Zenit-2 loses the first game of the third-place series
Oliver Popovic's team lost to Khimki in the first game of the Fonbet Super League's bronze series. The blue-whites team looked confident at the start, but by halftime, they lost the initiative and couldn't turn the game around in the remaining time. Here’s a detailed recap of the match.
Starting lineup for Zenit-2: team captain Elkhan Akhmedov, Ilyas Abdul, Ivan Prokopenko, Vladislav Samukhin and Artem Khodorich. In this game, the farm team saw debut performances from the young players of the blue-whites Basketball Academy: Mikhail Presnyakov, Zakhar Romashov and Pavel Logunov.
The St. Petersburg team started the match at a good pace. In the first minutes, Zenit-2 gained a comfortable 7-point lead. The key factor behind the successful start was the performance of the team captain: in the first quarter, Akhmedov scored 10 points, hitting two successful three-pointers. However, by halftime, the home team managed to level the game and narrow the deficit to 17:20.
The second quarter was under Khimki's control. The yellow-blue team made a 9:0 run and quickly took the lead. The pace of the game then gradually slowed down, with more pauses and fouls. This played into the hands of Zenit-2, which managed to stop the opponent’s momentum. The trio of Prokopenko, Akhmedov and Samukhin consistently scored points, keeping the St. Petersburg team in the game. The teams went into halftime with the score at 40:35 in Khimki's favor.
At the beginning of the second half, the home team intensified their pressure and quickly increased their lead to double digits. However, Zenit-2 managed to adjust their offense and became more solid on defense. Fast breaks from Ivan Prokopenko, as well as accurate mid-range shots from Dmitry Rodionov and Ilyas Abdul, allowed the blue-whites team to fight back. Before the final quarter, the score was 57:50 in Khimki’s favor.
However, in the final segment, fatigue and rotation limitations began to show. Despite all of Zenit-2's efforts, the first match ended with a win for Khimki. The final score was 80:68.
The most productive players for Zenit-2 were Elhan Ahmedov (18 points + 4 assists + 3 rebounds), Ivan Prokopenko (16 points + 2 steals + 1 rebound + 1 assist) and Vladislav Samukhin (14 points + 13 rebounds + 6 assists + 1 steal + 1 block).
The second game of the bronze medal series against Khimki will take place on May 5, again at the opponent's court. The match will start at 19:00 St. Petersburg time. The broadcast will be available on the Russian Basketball Federation’s website.
