Farm team loses in a hard-fought battle in Novosibirsk

Oliver Popovic’s team was unable to finish the quarterfinal series on the road — Zenit-2 lost to Novosibirsk in the fourth game of the Fonbet Super League playoffs. The match was a tense battle from the first to the last second, but the home team managed to close it out.

Pavel Zemskiy, Vladislav Samukhin, Ivan Prokopenko, Daniil Aksenov and Mikhail Dulkay started the game from the opening seconds.

The match began with a powerful putback by one of the best players of the previous game — during the first attack, home forward Alexey Babushkin grabbed the offensive rebound and opened the scoring with an "and-one". Despite a quick response from Zemskiy, Novosibirsk continued to score and capped off their opening run with a 10:2 lead. After a timeout by Oliver Popovic, the St. Petersburg squad regained composure and gradually leveled the game. Khodorich and Dulkay were accurate from beyond the arc, while Aksenov hit shots from mid-range, helping them close the first quarter trailing by just one point — 20:19 in favor of the home team.

The second and third quarters were tightly contested. At one point, the blue-whites pulled ahead by six points, but they couldn't hold onto the lead. By halftime, the score difference was again just one point, this time with Zenit-2 in front. At the start of the second half, the roles were reversed: Novosibirsk went ahead by six, and Zenit-2 had to play catch-up once again. The final quarter set the stage for a thrilling finish — 55:52.

The last ten minutes were a roller coaster. The Siberians quickly extended their lead to "+9" but just as quickly let it slip. The blue-whites had to expend a lot of energy to close the gap, which ultimately impacted the final moments of the game. Despite another scoring showcase from Pavel Zemskiy, the St. Petersburg team couldn’t clinch the win. Final score — 77:73. The quarterfinal series now returns to St. Petersburg, where the last Fonbet Super League semifinalist will be decided.

The top scorers for Zenit-2 were Pavel Zemskiy (22 points + 13 rebounds + 2 assists + 1 steal + 1 block), Artem Khodorich (13 points) and Daniil Aksenov (12 points + 2 rebounds + 2 assists + 2 steals).

Game five will take place on April 11 at the Basketball Academy (Severnaya Road, 12). Tip-off is at 18:00 St. Petersburg time. Admission is free. The game will be streamed on the Russian Basketball Federation website.