Zenit defeated MBA-MAI in the second overtime
Zenit and MBA-MAI delivered a truly electrifying match with two overtimes. The intrigue on the court of Moscow’s Basket Hall remained until the very end. Our report covers everything about the blue-whites' 17th consecutive victory.
Zenit’s starting five included team captain Sergey Karasev, Trent Frazier, Dwayne Bacon, Vince Hunter and Andrey Vorontsevich. For Alex Poythress, who started the game on the bench, this match marked a milestone — his 150th appearance for the St. Petersburg club.
The game started off tense. The first points came from MBA-MAI forward Maxim Barashkov, who accurately hit a mid-range shot. Zenit immediately responded with a powerful dunk by Hunter, who was left unguarded in the paint. However, what followed was a long scoring drought — both teams struggled to convert their long-range attempts. The game turned into a tight battle, with the lead constantly changing hands. Two three-pointers from Alexey Shved and Alexander Shcherbenev gave the visitors a slight "+5" advantage, but the first quarter ended with a minimal difference — 16:17 in favor of Zenit.
The intensity only grew in the second quarter. The Moscow team, which hadn’t made a single three-pointer in the first ten minutes, suddenly found their rhythm from deep. By the middle of the period, the hosts caught fire, surged ahead by six points, and seemed to take control. But Zenit did not let the game slip away — Frazier's buzzer-beater before halftime cut the deficit to a single possession. At halftime, the score was 34:32.
The third quarter was just a warm-up for the real battle that was to unfold in the final period. The St. Petersburg team relied on the individual brilliance of its leaders — Frazier and Shved drove to the basket with confidence, while White connected from beyond the arc. Meanwhile, MBA-MAI responded with near-perfect free-throw shooting — their first miss from the line wouldn’t come until the fourth quarter. By the last game period, the advantage of MBAI-MAI remained minimal — 49:48.
In the fourth quarter, Alexey Shved made three consecutive shots from close range, keeping Zenit in the fight. Neither team could pull ahead by more than three points. The St. Petersburg side tried to slow the game down whenever they got in front, but in the final minute, Makar Konovalov hit a hook shot to tie the game at 65:65. Zenit had a chance to win in regulation, but neither their first nor second timeout set up a successful final play — Bacon’s shots missed the mark. That meant we were heading into the first overtime of the 2024/25 season.
The extra five minutes began with a successful free throw from Poythress, followed by an MBA-MAI turnover that led to easy points for Zenit. Alex was putting on a phenomenal performance, adding two impressive dunks to his tally. Midway through overtime, the blue-whites had a "+5" advantage, but MBA fought back — Andrey Zubkov drained a crucial three-pointer. The final minute started with the score tied, but White put Zenit ahead again with a two-point shot — a margin that perfectly reflected the nature of the entire game. Then, MBA-MAI’s point guard Maxim Lichutin drew three free throws, making two of them to even the score at 74:74. That meant double overtime.
The second extra period started with a three-pointer from Shved, and Zenit seized the momentum. Meanwhile, MBA-MAI kept losing players to foul trouble — Evgeny Voronov and Makar Konovalov were already out, and Ivan Belousov soon joined them. Zenit, however, remained at full strength. Another deep shot from Shved and a free throw from Hunter sparked a 7:0 run, effectively settling the game. While Zubkov and Vorontsevich picked up their fifth fouls, the Moscow side kept fighting to the end — Danil Pevnev’s three-pointer cut the deficit to just three points in the final minute. The finish was nerve-wracking, but Zenit managed to hold on. Final score — 84:88.
The standout performers for Zenit were Dwayne Bacon (23 points + 4 assists + 3 rebounds), Alexey Shved (22 points + 7 assists + 1 steal) and Alex Poythress (16 points + 7 rebounds + 3 steals + 1 assist + 1 block).
In the next round of the VTB United League regular season, Zenit will host Yekaterinburg’s Uralmash. The game will take place on April 6 at CSC Arena, starting at 19:30 St. Petersburg time. Tickets are available at tickets.bc-zenit.com.
