Zenit-2 claims victory in the final moments
The blue-whites team defeats SSOR Lokomotiv Kuban and finishes the regular season of the Fonbet Super League on a high note. After 30 rounds, Oliver Popovic's team took 4th place in the standings with 20 wins and 10 losses. Here's a detailed recap of the match.
Starting five for Zenit-2: Pavel Zemskiy, Vladislav Samukhin, Daniil Aksenov, Mikhail Dulkay and Ivan Prokopenko.
From the very first seconds, the game was played at a fast pace with many fluctuations. The teams alternated in delivering productive stretches, trading the lead throughout the game. By the middle of the first quarter, Zenit-2 pulled ahead by "+7", with Zemskiy and Samukhin dominating in the paint, and Prokopenko effective in drives and three-point shooting. However, the Krasnodar team quickly fought back and evened the score. By the first break, Zenit-2 regained a comfortable lead, 24:19.
At the start of the second quarter, Zenit-2 allowed the opponent to come within 2 points, but then the players of Oliver Popovic managed to pull ahead significantly. For every three-pointer by Krasnodar’s Artem Oreshnikov, Zenit-2 responded with a series of long-range shots from Aksenov, Prokopenko and Zemskiy. The teams went into halftime with a substantial gap — 51:40.
However, in the second half, SSOR Lokomotiv Kuban managed to turn the game around. Excellent three-point shooting and tight defense allowed the guests to even the score by the fourth minute of the period. Koryakovskiy, Orekhov and Medvedev contributed to a mini-comeback for their team, after which the game turned into a high-level competition with constant lead changes. Before the final quarter, the score at the Basketball Academy scoreboard was 68:66.
In the final quarter, Zenit-2 and Loko kept it close until the last minute, never allowing their opponents to pull ahead by more than 2-3 points. Karvanen’s drive and accurate free throws from Aksyonov in the closing moments secured a win for Zenit-2. The final score was 89:85.
The most productive players for the blue-whites team today were Pavel Zemskiy (23 points + 13 rebounds + 1 block), Ilya Krivyh (19 points + 6 rebounds + 2 steals + 1 block), Ivan Prokopenko (14 points + 5 assists + 3 rebounds + 1 steal) and Artem Khodorich (12 points + 1 rebound + 1 assist + 1 steal).
In the playoffs, Zenit-2 will face Novosibirsk. The first two quarterfinal games will take place on March 31 and April 2 at the Basketball Academy (Severnaya Road, 12). Both games will start at 18:00 St. Petersburg time.
