Zenit U21 falls to Nizhny Novgorod after winning the first game of the home series
Zenit U21 played a series of matches as part of their home tour in the VTB United Youth League. The games against Pari Nizhny Novgorod-Junior took place at the Basketball Academy on February 8 and 9.
The first game ended with a confident victory for the blue-whites, with a score of 72:59. Taking control in the second quarter, Roman Knyazev's team comfortably secured the win. The top performers for Zenit U21 in that match were Alexander Porotnikov (13 points, 4 assists, 2 rebounds, 1 steal) and Ilya Krivyh (10 points, 10 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 block).
The second game, however, followed a completely different scenario. The visitors took control right from the start, building an 11-point lead in the first quarter. Despite this, Zenit U21 managed to close the gap to just one point by halftime. Unfortunately, they couldn't maintain the momentum in the second half, and Pari Nizhny Novgorod-Junior secured a 55:70 victory. Zenit’s standout players in this match were Dmitry Chikishev (14 points, 3 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals), Alexander Porotnikov (10 points, 6 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals) and Timofey Komissarov (10 points, 6 rebounds, 6 steals).
Roman Knyazev, Zenit U21 head coach:
In the first game, we completely controlled the boards and the paint, which led us to victory. In the second game, our lack of size became a factor. We lost too many individual battles, which ultimately determined the outcome. We'll keep working.
Alexander Porotnikov, Zenit U21 guard:
In the first game against UNICS-2, we played great, forcing the opponent into numerous turnovers. In the second game, our rebounding and box-outs were lacking, but through teamwork, we managed to pull off a win in the end. Against Nizhny Novgorod, we also executed well in the first match — boxing out, moving the ball, and playing solid defense. But in the second game, something went wrong. We missed open shots and lost the rebounding battle. We need to correct our mistakes and prepare with more motivation for the next road trip and the upcoming March games against Loko and CSKA-Junior.
In their next regular-season series, Zenit U21 will face Enisey-2 on the road. The first game is scheduled for February 18 at 13:00 St. Petersburg time, and the second game will take place on February 19 at 11:00. The matches will be streamed live on the league's official website in the team’s schedule section.
