Zenit-2 defeats the FONBET Super League champion on the road

Zenit-2 claimed an away victory, defeating the reigning FONBET Super League champion — Revda’s Temp-SUMZ — with a score of 81:85. After trailing by 12 points early in the game, Oliver Popovic’s team managed to erase the deficit and take control in the second half.

From the opening minutes, Daniil Ginko, Egor Evstafiev, Vladislav Samukhin, Ilyas Abdul, and Mikhail Dulkay took the court for the Blue-White-Sky Blues.

The opening quarter didn’t go well for the St. Petersburg side. The Urals team immediately seized the initiative and rapidly built up their lead. While Temp-SUMZ was pulling away, the Zenit players could only respond with a putback from Dulkay and an and-one from Ginko. Several defensive mistakes and missed attempts at the opposing basket resulted in a 12-point deficit, which the visitors managed to slightly reduce before the break — 22:14.

In the next segment of the game, Zenit-2 wasted no time and launched into a comeback. Free throws by Khodorich, an and-one by Kasyanov, a three-pointer from Chikishev, and successful shots by Evstafiev from both mid-range and long distance allowed the Blue-White-Sky Blues to take the lead before the midpoint of the quarter. Once the guests leveled the score, the game turned into a tightly contested battle. At halftime, Zenit-2 led 39:40.

After returning from the locker room, Revda appeared more confident at first. The home team managed to break ahead once again by six points, but Zenit-2 refused to accept the opponent’s runs. Although the third quarter belonged to Temp-SUMZ, the St. Petersburg side continued to show resilience and determination to win — 63:62 before the final quarter.

The last period began with a precise three-pointer from Zenit-2 forward Dmitry Rodionov. The game remained intense and back-and-forth. For the Urals team, Nikolai Natsvlishvili stood out — in just 13 minutes on the court, he became the home team’s top scorer. However, the ending belonged to the visitors. Several long-range shots from Chikishev and Evstafiev sealed the victory. The final score — 81:85.

The top performers for Zenit-2 were Ivan Kasyanov (19 points, 6 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal), Mikhail Dulkay (16 points, 8 rebounds, 3 steals, 1 block), Egor Evstafiev (11 points, 2 assists, 2 steals), and Dmitry Chikishev (10 points, 3 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals).

In the next round of the regular season, Zenit-2 will face Kupol Rodniki in Izhevsk. The match will take place on November 20 at 18:00 St. Petersburg time.