Zenit defeated MBA-MAI on the home court
After winning away games in Saratov and Samara, Xavi Pascual’s team returned to their home court, where they were awaited by an exciting match against the Moscow's MBA-MAI. Here’s a recap of the bright home game for the blue-whites team.
Zenit’s captain Sergey Karasev, guard Trent Frazier, forwards Dwayne Bacon and Andrey Vorontsevich, along with center Vince Hunter, started the game against the Moscow team from the first seconds.
The debut of the game was completely in the hands of the hosts. Four steals and high shooting accuracy early in the game allowed the St. Petersburg team to quickly take a 9:2 lead. After Zenit seized the initiative, they never let it go. MBA-MAI quickly accumulated team fouls, giving Zenit many opportunities to score from the free-throw line, which Frazier, Zhbanov and Poythress took full advantage of. Midway through the first quarter, Alexey Shved appeared on the court for the first time in a Zenit jersey. In the final minute of the opening period, the guard made a three-pointer — his first points with the new team. It was Shved's long-range shot that closed the quarter with the score 23:14.
Zenit made a powerful start to the second quarter with a three-pointer from Shcherbenev and a drive from Hunter. The guests initially responded with two putbacks from Evgeny Minchenko, but then their offense stalled. In this quarter, Dwayne Bacon stood out, scoring 8 points, including a powerful dunk after a steal on his side of the court. The first half ended with another three-pointer from Shved, this time right before the buzzer — 45:20.
After the break, the game proceeded at a more controlled pace without sharp fluctuations. Both teams applied mutual pressure and were fairly even. While the guests were getting points from Trushkin, Konovalov and Zubkov, the St. Petersburg team’s dynamic duo of Frazier and Zhbanov shone, combining for a couple of flashy drives. Vorontsevich and Karasev also hit long-range shots, which allowed Zenit to take the quarter and further extend their lead — 61:33.
Despite the fact that MBA-MAI had the most productive quarter, while Zenit scored the fewest points in the final period, the blue-whites calmly brought the game to a victory in the last segment. Besides the countless free throws for Zenit, this quarter was highlighted by three-pointers from Zhbanov, Bacon, and another one from Shved. The final score was 73:50.
The top performers for Zenit today were Dwayne Bacon (13 points + 4 rebounds + 3 assists + 3 steals), Trent Frazier (11 points + 3 rebounds + 2 assists), Sergey Karasev (10 points + 3 rebounds + 3 steals + 1 assist) and Georgiy Zhbanov (10 points + 2 rebounds + 1 steal + 1 block).
In the next round of the regular season, our team will play an away game against Moscow’s CSKA. The match will take place on February 2 at the Megasport Arena. The game will begin at 12:30 St. Petersburg time.
