Zenit U21 will play for the bronze of the VTB United Youth League

Zenit U21 lost to CSKA-Junior with a score of 89:93 in the semifinals of the VTB United Youth League and will now compete for the tournament’s bronze medals.

The first half of the game was intense and closely contested. Aside from a brief stretch in the middle of the first quarter when Zenit U21 took a 9-point lead, the teams remained neck and neck. At halftime, the scoreboard showed a tie — 46:46.

However, in the third quarter, the "army team" seized the initiative and pulled ahead by 14 points. In the final ten minutes, Roman Knyazev’s squad faced a tough challenge — and nearly completed the comeback. The St. Petersburg team repeatedly cut the deficit to a single possession, but CSKA-Junior held on in the final moments.

The top scorers for the blue-whites were Alexander Porotnikov (18 points, 2 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steal, 1 block), Egor Evstafiev (18 points, 6 rebounds, 5 assists) and Ivan Kasyanov (14 points, 4 rebounds, 2 blocks, 1 assist, 1 steal).

Tomorrow, May 4, Zenit U21 will play in the third-place match. Their opponent will be the loser of the MBA-MAI-Junior vs. Pari Nizhny Novgorod-Junior semifinal. The match is scheduled to start at 14:00 St. Petersburg time, with a live stream available on the official League website.