Another hundred in Samara
Zenit secures a decisive away victory against Samara. The match took place as part of the 27th round of the VTB United League regular season. Here’s a detailed breakdown of the guest victory by the St. Petersburg team.
The starting five of Frazier-Karasev-Zhbanov-Hunter-Vorontsevich took to the court against the Volga team from the very first seconds.
The opening possession and Zenit’s first extended attack ended with Sergey Karasev sinking a three-pointer. The hosts responded immediately with a drive from Ilya Popov, but then the blue-whites confidently began to build a lead. Andrey Vorontsevich and Vince Hunter each added two points, while the St. Petersburg captain caught fire. To his opening three-pointer, Karasev added a 2+1 and three more accurate long-range shots, surpassing the milestone of 3,000 points in official games for the team. Despite Zenit’s strong start, Samara kept up the pace and tried not to let their opponents pull too far ahead. The Volga duo of Chikarev and Kulagin performed well, picking up momentum midway through the quarter and scoring the lion’s share of their team’s points. The opening period ended with a buzzer-beater three-pointer by Ivan Pynko, making it 27:30.
In the second quarter, however, Samara noticeably faltered. The period began with a 13:3 run by the visitors, which significantly influenced the rest of the game. Midway through the quarter, the hosts made an attempt to storm back: Amosov fired from long range, Popov hit a hook shot and Pynko made several free throws. But Zenit barely seemed to notice, closing the half with a "+14" lead at 41:55.
After the break, it seemed like Samara never returned from the locker room. Within minutes, Frazier, Hunter and Vorontsevich extended their team’s lead to 21 points, effectively knocking the opponent out. At this point, Vladislav Konovalov called a timeout, which briefly slowed the pace of the game, and Zenit’s offense became a bit stagnant. However, the blue-whites quickly regained their rhythm and took control again. Another standout player alongside the captain was Vince Hunter, who secured a double-double by the third quarter. Heading into the final quarter, the scoreboard at the Samara sports palace read 53:78.
In the final quarter, Zenit’s bench players delivered. Center Egor Ryzhov, who appeared late in the third period, and forward Pavel Zemskiy, playing for the first time today, scored steadily. It was Ryzhov who made Zenit’s 100th point in this match. The final score — 73:106.
The top performers for the St. Petersburg side were Sergey Karasev (27 points, 3 rebounds, 3 assists), Vince Hunter (15 points, 12 rebounds, 6 assists, 1 steal), and Egor Ryzhov (15 points, 1 rebound, 1 block).
In the next round, Zenit will return to their home court, where they will face MBA-MAI on January 28. The game starts at 20:00 St. Petersburg time. Tickets are available at tickets.bc-zenit.com.
