Zenit-2 hosts the championship leader
The reserve team of the blue-whites is preparing to host Temp-SUMZ from Revda, who currently leads the standings of the Fonbet Super League. The game will take place as part of the 19th round of the regular season.
After a road loss a week ago to Barnaul (78:64), Zenit-2 is in 3rd place in the standings with 14 wins — just one less than guests.
In their most recent game, Temp-SUMZ was defeated by Pari Nizhny Novgorod on the road during the second leg of the Russian Cup quarterfinals. The game ended with a score of 79:69 in favor of Nizhny Novgorod, eliminating Revda from the tournament.
However, the Ural team is doing very well in the Super League. Alexey Lobanov's squad has won six consecutive matches (five of which were at home), most recently defeating one of their main rivals in the regular season, CSKA-2 Moscow (79:67).
The visitors' most effective player, Ivan Evstigneev, averages 16.7 points per game. The forward ranks fourth in the Super League scoring race, positioned between Zenit-2's Daniil Aksenov (17.9) and Pavel Zemskiy (15.9).
Zenit-2 head coach Oliver Popovic on the game against Temp-SUMZ:
The first Super League team is coming to visit us. An experienced and very physically prepared team. We have a very bad January in terms of injuries and illnesses. I hope that this is the end and that tomorrow we can count on all the players. It's going to be a demanding game for the whole 40 minutes. I am sure that the Revda will be motivated to respond to the defeat we inflicted on them in the first part of the championship and keep the first place. And we have a motive to stay in the top with a possible win. I invite the fans to support our guys.
The match will take place on January 25 at the Zenit Basketball Academy (Severnaya Road, 12). Tip-off is at 18:00 St. Petersburg time. Admission is free for all fans. A live broadcast of the game will be available on the Russian Basketball Federation's website.
