Taking the win in the clutch
As Andrey Vorontsevich warned the day before, the match in Nizhny Novgorod was not an easy walk. The game of the 37th round of the VTB United League regular season turned out to be truly intense, with intrigue until the end. Let’s take a closer look at the recent game.
Zenit's starting five: team captain Sergey Karasev, Trent Frazier, Dwayne Bacon, Vince Hunter and Andrey Vorontsevich.
The match began with a powerful run from Zenit — 11:2. Early on, the St. Petersburg team took control of the game, and Hunter managed to score an "and-one" and two spectacular dunks in just five seconds. However, the guests' offense began to falter. As the first quarter progressed, fewer and fewer of Zenit's shots hit their target, and the Volga team capitalized on this, gradually closing the gap. A three-pointer from Bacon broke the scoring drought for Zenit, but soon enough, Pari Nizhny Novgorod equalized the score, signaling that they were ready to challenge the St. Petersburg team in this game. However, a couple of drives by Zhbanov and Bacon towards the end of the quarter restored Zenit’s lead before the first break — 23:19.
After a short pause, the Nizhny Novgorod team quickly demonstrated that their mini-comeback in the previous quarter was no fluke. Nemanja Durisic hit a three-pointer on their first possession, and then Zotkin and Hamilton increased their team’s lead to "+3" after fast breaks. However, Zenit did not allow their opponents to pull too far ahead, and the game gradually turned into a positional battle for every ball. The pace of the game fluctuated: Vorontsevich and Frazier put Zenit ahead, but Volkhin and Karpenkov immediately returned the lead to the Volga team. The entire second quarter unfolded at this pace. It seemed that a drive by Trent right before halftime would seal the first half, but Durisic made a buzzer-beater three-pointer — 42:41. In terms of stats, the Nizhny Novgorod team had a clear advantage in rebounds (25 to Zenit’s 11 by halftime), but the guests were more accurate with their two-point shots (72.7% compared to 52.4% for the hosts). Over the 20 minutes, the lead changed hands six times, with the score tied on as many occasions.
After the teams returned from the locker rooms, the initiative fully shifted to Nizhny Novgorod. At the start of the second half, the hosts delivered a highly productive stretch, allowing them to build a 9-point lead midway through the quarter. Zenit struggled with accuracy but gradually managed to contain the pressure from Nizhny Novgorod: White scored from behind the arc and the free-throw line, and Bacon broke through the defense with fast drives — 57:51 heading into the final quarter.
In the closing period, Pari Nizhny Novgorod briefly surged to a "+10" lead, but Zenit wasn’t about to give up the game easily. Two three-pointers from Alexey Shved and excellent defense from the St. Petersburg team brought Zenit back into the game — the score gap was reduced to two points. At this point, Zenit couldn’t manage to equalize or take the lead. The reason was the standout highlights from Igor Volkhin. The blue-whites forward, who is currently on loan at Pari Nizhny Novgorod, completed a 2+3 play, allowing his team to stretch the lead back to "+7". Meanwhile, Zenit’s experienced player Andreн Vorontsevich stepped up and brought the team back within one point. The game proceeded in a fiery back-and-forth, and with 37 seconds remaining, the scoreboard read 73:72 in favor of the hosts. Pari Nizhny Novgorod’s attack failed, and in Zenit’s next possession, the X-factor came into play — Georgy Zhbanov. With 7 seconds left on the clock, the St. Petersburg guard nailed a crucial three-pointer. In the remaining time, Nizhny Novgorod couldn’t score again — Zenit claimed a hard-fought victory with a score of 73:75.
The most productive players for St. Petersburg team today were Trent Frazier (15 points + 4 rebounds + 2 assists + 1 steal), Vince Hunter (12 points + 4 rebounds + 1 assist + 1 steal + 1 block), Alex Poythress (11 points + 3 rebounds) and Dwayne Bacon (11 points + 2 rebounds + 1 assist + 1 steal).
In the next round of the VTB United League regular season, Zenit will play Uralmash also away. The match will take place on March 23 in Yekaterinburg. The tip-off is at 15:00 St. Petersburg time.
