Zenit claimed victory in the opening game of the VTB United League regular season
The Blue-White-Sky Blues kicked off the 2025/26 VTB United League regular season with a home win over Avtodor. The game against the Saratov team ended 90:67. Here’s more on the start of the champiomship.
Zenit’s starting five featured: Georgy Zhbanov, Levi Randolph, Alex Poythress, Neno Dimitrijevic and Andrey Vorontsevich.
For a while, neither team could score, but after several missed attempts, Saratov forward Dusan Beslac hit the first three-pointer. Zenit quickly answered with a three from Georgy Zhbanov. From the opening seconds, the game was played at a fast pace, with tough battles for every rebound. Saratov often fouled under their basket, giving St. Petersburg players free throws. Several times, Zenit pulled ahead to a comfortable lead, but Avtodor kept cutting the gap. Still, by the first timeout, the hosts were ahead 23:18.
In the second quarter, the pace slowed a bit. Early on, Zenit looked confident: Emchenko hit a three, and Frazier converted an and-one free throw — marking his 2000th point for Zenit. Soon, however, the Blue-White-Sky Blues hit a scoring drought, which their opponents took advantage of. Drives from Pranauskis and Klimenko, along with another three from Beslac, allowed the visitors to erase a 7-point deficit and tie the game by mid-quarter. That was the end of Avtodor’s run, as Neno, Alex and Levi helped Zenit rebuild a double-digit lead. Saratov managed only a couple of free throws before halftime, with Zenit leading 40:31 at the break.
A drive from Neno Dimitrijevic opened the second half, but just like in the second quarter, Zenit hit a short slump: scoring efficiency dropped, and Avtodor began closing the gap. The situation was stabilized by Vorontsevich, Poythress and Emchenko, who combined for a 9:0 run late in the quarter. Heading into the final stretch, St. Petersburg led 61:49.
Avtodor was late coming out for the fourth quarter. Zenit continued the run they had started: Martiuk dominated in the paint, Emchenko hit mid-range shots and Shcherbenev sank a three-pointer off a steal. Very quickly, Zenit’s lead exceeded 20 points. Vorontsevich, Martiuk and Shcherbenev turned it into a three-point shooting contest of their own. When the outcome was beyond doubt, Pavel Zemskiy and Ilya Krivykh checked in. For the young center, it was his VTB United League debut, which he marked with a layup. The final score was 90:67.
Every Zenit player scored in today’s game, with the top performers being Alex Poythress (14 points, 10 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals), Levi Randolph (14 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists) and Vladislav Emchenko (12 points, 3 rebounds, 3 steals, 1 assist).
In the next round of the regular season, Zenit will host Kazan’s UNICS on October 4 at 14:00 St. Petersburg time. Tickets are available on our website.
