Home victory secures first place in the regular season
PARMA and Zenit delivered a spectacular game that ended with blue-whites' 19th consecutive win in the VTB United League. Thanks to this victory, the Zenit clinched first place in the 2024/25 regular season ahead of schedule. Read more about the game in our recap.
From the very first seconds on the court at the CSC Arena, Zenit’s starting five included team captain Sergey Karasev, Trent Frazier, Dwayne Bacon, Vince Hunter and Andrey Vorontsevich.
PARMA opened the game with a solo drive from Samson Ruzhentsev and an "and-one" play by Garrett Nevels. However, Zenit quickly responded: star scorer Dwayne Bacon began racking up points from beyond the arc, on drives and at the free-throw line. Zenit pulled ahead, but PARMA kept pace. Nevels added another 2+1, and Ruzhentsev sank a three-pointer. Zenit answered with a couple of fast breaks led by the Shved-Hunter duo. Midway through the first quarter, the game was an intense, evenly matched battle. The Perm side attempted to pull away by 5–6 points a few times but were met with resistance from Georgy Zhbanov, who hit two three-pointers, converted an "and-one" and sank free throws. The quarter ended with Alex Poythress scoring from under the basket — 27:24 in favor of the home team.
In the second quarter, Poythress continued to dominate the paint and steadily added to Zenit’s tally. Despite long-range shots from Frazier, Shved and Karasev, PARMA played cohesively and maintained pressure on Zenit's defense. It was a back-and-forth game, and the teams went into halftime separated by just one point — 51:50.
The second half began with a drive by Bacon, but then PARMA unleashed an impressive 12:0 run that temporarily turned the tide. A timeout by Xavi Pascual stopped the surge, and soon Zhbanov ended Zenit's scoring drought with another three-pointer. Meanwhile, Samson Ruzhentsev continued scoring — by the end of the game, the visiting guard would set a new career high with 29 points. Gradually, Zenit closed the gap thanks to the skills of its core players: the Frazier-Poythress-Hunter trio found offensive opportunities, and Alexey Shved hit four (!) three-pointers. His deep shots put Zenit back in the lead — 80:77 at the end of the third quarter.
The final quarter started tensely: the game was full of hard contact, and the ball refused to go through the hoop. Tough defense, steals, and fouls underscored the importance of every possession. It wasn't until the third minute that the scoreboard moved again — Karasev and Ruzhentsev traded threes. Zenit’s captain added another from distance shortly after, and a Poythress drive extended the home team's lead to six points. With time running out, PARMA tried to mount a comeback. However, Zenit stayed composed down the stretch and denied the visitors any real chance of turning the game around, widening the gap even further. Final score — 105:90.
The top performers for the blue-whites were: Alexey Shved (19 points, 10 assists, 3 rebounds, 1 steal, 1 block), Alex Poythress (18 points, 6 rebounds, 2 steals) and Trent Frazier (17 points, 6 assists, 2 rebounds, 1 steal).
Zenit’s final regular season game will take place on April 12, on the road against Kazakhstan’s Astana. Tip-off is scheduled for 13:00 St. Petersburg time.
