Zenit is the silver medalist of the VTB United League Superсup
Andre Roberson, Georgy Zhbanov, Alex Poythress, Neno Dimitrijevic and Vladislav Emchenko started for Zenit in the final. Teams’s captain Sergey Karasev missed the decisive game.
The match began with a steal by Zhbanov and an easy layup. While the rival players missed shots, an alley-oop from Emchenko to Roberson gave Zenit a 4-point lead. From the opening minutes, both teams kept up a high pace but committed many turnovers (six apiece by the end of the quarter). Zhbanov, Emchenko and Vorontsevich struck from beyond the arc, keeping Zenit ahead. However, two minutes before the buzzer, CSKA managed to pull in front: the army team also made their threes and could have gone into the first break up by four, if not for a long-range shot by Zhbanov — 18:19 in favor of the opponent after ten minutes.
The second quarter immediately went off track. CSKA went on a 9:0 run, while Zenit only got on the board in the fourth minute thanks to Trent Frazier’s free throws. But the troubles didn’t end there: Zenit shot poorly both from mid-range and long distance. CSKA, on the other hand, caught fire from downtown, led by Melo Trimble, the star of the Moscow team. At one point, the gap grew to 23 points. Zenit’s head coach, Aleksander Sekulic, actively rotated the lineup, and eventually, the quarter ended on a brighter note for the Blue-White-Sky Blues. Overcoming the crisis, Zenit improved their shooting and managed to cut into the deficit: Shcherbenev hit two threes, Martiuk dunked, and Roberson scored on a putback. At halftime, the scoreboard read 32:49. In the locker room, Zenit faced the tough task of resetting and coming back onto the court with fire in their eyes.
And, overall, they did. The second half was a battle on both sides. Zenit found their rhythm and tried to break through CSKA’s defense. Shcherbenev added two more threes, Zhbanov scored from various positions, and Vorontsevich added points from deep. However, the momentum didn’t swing. By the end of the third quarter, the gap widened again (58:81), and in the final stretch, CSKA confidently secured the win and denied Zenit a shot at the trophy. Final score — 79:96.
The top scorers for Zenit in the final were Georgy Zhbanov (17 points, 9 rebounds, 2 steals, 1 assist), Alexander Shcherbenev (12 points, 4 assists, 2 rebounds), Andrey Martiuk (11 points, 3 rebounds, 1 block) and Andrey Vorontsevich (11 points, 2 assists, 1 rebound).
At the end of the final, Andrey Vorontsevich entered the symbolic top five of the tournament.
The VTB United League regular season will begin for Aleksander Sekulic’s team next Wednesday. On October 1, Zenit will host Saratov’s Avtodor at home. The game will take place at CSC Arena and tip off at 19:30 St. Petersburg time. Tickets are available on our website.
