Zenit took revenge for the defeat in Krasnoyarsk
The official website of the Blue-White-Sky Blues tells you everything you need to know about the 15th round of the regular season game of the VTB United League.
By a twist of the schedule, Zenit played its second home game in three days on Saturday. After a confident win over Samara, Enisey was our guest on the CSC Arena. Earlier in the autumn, the Siberian side had handed Aleksander Sekulic’s team a painful defeat — only the second in the history of meetings between the two clubs in the VTB United League — so it was easy to imagine the hosts’ level of motivation.
Krasnoyarsk opened the scoring through Dmitry Sonko, Zenit replied with two points from Andrey Martiuk, and then Sonko hit a shot from beyond the arc. Enisey went up 7:2, showing they were not intimidated and were ready to challenge their illustrious opponent once again. A three-pointer from Levi Randolph, a dunk by Martiuk, and an impressive display from Luka Samanic cooled the visitors’ enthusiasm — 15:11. Mikhail Vedishchev connected from long range, and Neno Dimitrijevic responded in kind. The game turned into a back-and-forth shootout, with neither team particularly effective on defense. With 3:09 left in the opening quarter, the scoreboard showed 23:22. Sekulic called a timeout to make adjustments, and by that point the stands were almost full — attendance was noticeably higher than on Wednesday. After a three-pointer by Vladislav Perevalov, Enisey took a 28:27 lead with two minutes left in the first quarter. The ten-minute stretch ended at 31:30 thanks to Trent Frazier’s trademark drive to the basket.
Frazier also opened the scoring in the second quarter, to which Egor Ryzhov — greeted by the fans with approving applause — replied with a bank shot. Zenit gradually increased the tempo, but Enisey coped well with the pressure. Emchenko hit from beyond the arc, Samanic battled for the ball like a lion, while Frazier and Dimitrijevic alternated in pushing the offense. Zenit quickly got into foul trouble, making life easier for the visitors in the second half of the quarter, but the growing pressure began to tell. After a combination involving Neno and Levi, the score became quite comfortable — 49:40. Jovica Arsic wandered along the sideline with his hands in his pockets, shaking his head. Yes, the script of this game was very different from what had unfolded at the Sever Arena in the autumn. The halftime score — 57:42 — clearly illustrated the hosts’ superiority.
At the start of the second half, both teams traded fast breaks, but scoring efficiency dropped somewhat. Samanic quickly picked up his fourth foul and was forced to give way to Andrey Vorontsevich. Once again, it took Zenit less than three minutes to put Enisey in the bonus, sending them to the free-throw line after every foul. Vorontsevich’s three-pointer was answered by Danilo Tasic, and by the middle of the quarter the hosts’ lead had shrunk to just eight points. Zenit needed to step up, and Frazier and Vonleh did just that. The former scored three points with his signature shot, while the latter powered past Ryzhov under the basket — 69:56. When Emchenko scored three points in a single possession, the gap became overwhelming — 78:58. The main intrigue heading into the final quarter was whether Zenit would reach the 100-point mark. Confident offense quickly answered that question.
Emchenko drained three-pointer after three-pointer, catching fire. Dmitry Uzinskiy also knocked one down from long range — 95:68. The final quarter became a vivid demonstration of the shooting prowess that Sekulic’s players possess in abundance. Martiuk easily outplayed Ryzhov near the opponent’s basket — 98:70. Arsic called a timeout with more than five minutes remaining. And it was the captain who brought up the century mark! Sergey Karasev nailed a corner three and, according to tradition, will now have to treat his teammates. Zenit comfortably saw the game out to a dominant 105:81 victory. The next opponent is Lokomotiv Kuban, the game will take place at the CSC Arena on December 17. Tickets are available on the club’s website.
