Zenit defeats Pari NN at home
A game of the 25th round of the VTB United League regular season took place in Saint Petersburg. This time, the blue-whites faced Pari Nizhny Novgorod, who applied high pressure from the first quarter and caused difficulties for the hosts.
Georgy Zhbanov, Xavier Moon, Dwayne Bacon, Vince Hunter and Andrey Vorontsevich started the match against from first seconds.
The game began dynamically. Nizhny Novgorod opened the scoring with a hook shot from Nemanja Durisic, and the hosts responded with a mid-range shot from Vorontsevich. In the next attack, the visitors' center, Pavel Zakharov, scored second-chance points after a teammate's missed long-distance shot. Zenit countered with two consecutive drives by Zhbanov. The guard came into the game in good spirits after the news of his selection for the All-Star Game and the Russian national team. The teams played at a high pace, not allowing each other to create a significant lead. One of the brightest players in the opening was Xavier Moon, who dunked in transition, assisted Poythress, and hit mid-range shots. Later in the quarter, Zakharov added six points, bringing Pari NN to a four-point lead. This run forced Xavi Pascual to call the first timeout. Despite Egor Ryzhov’s quick two points after the break, Nizhny Novgorod continued to apply pressure, extending their lead to as much as eight points — 23:30 by the end of the first quarter.
The next quarter initially seemed less intense than the previous one. Zenit played tougher defense, forcing their opponents into mistakes and struggling to execute offensively. A significant setback came when Moon left the court due to an unfortunate fall. Gradually, the score began to even out. Starting the quarter nine points behind after Karpenkov’s two-pointer, the blue-whites reduced the deficit to just one in three minutes. However, Zach Nutall stepped up for the visitors, single-handedly making an 8:0 run and restoring a comfortable lead for his team. After another timeout, Zenit’s response came from Georgy Zhbanov and Sergey Karasev, who both hit three-pointers. Shortly afterward, Poythress threw down a dunk and put Zenit ahead. From this point, the game turned into a tightly contested, back-and-forth battle. Zenit and Pari NN mirrored each other’s actions — Khomenko hit free throws, and Poitress did the same. Karasev nailed a three-pointer, and Antipov matched him. However, Vorontsevich’s three-pointer, the captain’s free throws, and Poythress’ fast-break dunk in the final minute gave Zenit a 53:47 lead at halftime.
After the break, the teams exchanged drives from Bacon and Zakharov, but Zenit steadily began to build a double-digit lead. The key contributors to this surge, Dwayne Bacon and Alex Poythress, combined for 15 points in the quarter. Adding to this was solid defense and three-pointers from Vorontsevich and Shcherbenev. The hosts finished the period with a solid advantage — 74:60.
The final stretch began under significant pressure from Pari NN, who were not ready to give up. The visitors quickly reduced the deficit to eight points and continued attacking the blue-whites' basket. Zenit, however, demonstrated smart team play and kept scoring. Despite the visitors’ efforts, Xavi Pascual’s team secured a confident 94:79 victory.
Zenit’s top performers were Dwayne Bacon (18 points, 2 steals, 1 rebound), Alex Poythress (16 points, 9 rebounds, 1 steal) and Georgy Zhbanov (14 points, 6 steals, 2 rebounds, 1 assist).
In the 26th round of the VTB United League regular season, Zenit will play an away game against Saratov’s Avtodor. The match will take place on Sunday, January 19, starting at 16:00 Saint Petersburg time.
