Youth team extends unbeaten streak

Zenit U21 claimed victories in both home games against UNICS-2. The matches against the Kazan team took place on November 10 and 11 on the court of the Blue-White-Sky Blues Basketball Academy.

The first game ended with a score of 84:60. The St. Petersburg team took the lead before halftime and confidently carried the game to victory after returning from the locker room. The most productive players for Zenit U21 in that match were Alexander Porotnikov (19 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals), Ivan Vasiliev (14 points, 10 rebounds, 2 steals), and Mikhail Presnyakov (12 points, 8 rebounds, 3 blocks, 1 assist, 1 steal).

The second meeting was more closely contested. For three quarters, the visitors kept up heavy pressure, constantly reducing the gap. However, the ending belonged to Zenit — 83:72. The best performers on the court this time were Anton Suikonen (17 points, 3 assists, 2 rebounds, 1 block) and Mikhail Presnyakov (16 points, 10 rebounds, 3 blocks, 1 assist).

At the moment, Roman Knyazev’s team occupies second place in the VTB United Youth League standings, having won 13 out of 14 games, including an 11-game winning streak.

Timur Ivanov, Zenit U21 forward:

The first game was quite solid and we had the right mindset, which led to a confident victory. Today, however, we lacked the necessary intensity, which caused some difficulties. That’s unacceptable if we want to achieve great success this season. We’ll keep working to avoid that in the future.

In the next round of the regular season, the St. Petersburg team will face CSKA-Junior in Moscow. The games will take place on November 18 at 14:00 and November 19 at 13:00. The broadcasts will be available on the League’s website and on VK Video.