Громим «Локо» на домашнем паркете
Zenit secured a confident home victory over Lokomotiv Kuban. The Round 16 game of the VTB United League regular season ended 98:69. We break down the key moments of today’s matchup in our report.
The Blue-White-Sky Blues started the game with the following lineup: Andrey Martiuk, Georgy Zhbanov, Levi Randolph, Neno Dimitrijevic, and Luka Samanic.
At the opening tip, Zenit’s past and present collided — Vince Hunter and Andrey Martiuk. The duel between the two centers ended with the ball slyly flying out of bounds, though possession still went to the visitors, who failed to capitalize. On the ensuing attack, Zenit had several attempts and finally opened the scoring: Randolph was accurate on the drive and then added a three-pointer — 5:0 early for the hosts. Loko immediately answered with a long-range make by Kvitkovskikh, and the game turned into a fast-paced shootout. At one point Martiuk took center stage for Zenit, operating confidently in the paint and consistently converting free throws. While the Krasnodar side looked disoriented, the St. Petersburg team pulled away. Dimitrijevic’s three made it 16:5 midway through the quarter, prompting Lokomotiv’s first timeout. After the break, the opponent steadied themselve and began scoring. The visitors’ newcomer Mike Moore first hit from mid-range and then made three free throws. However, the mistakes persisted, allowing the blue-white-sky blues to maintain the gap thanks to the Balkan duo of Dimitrijevic and Šamanić. Zenit had the last word in the period as well: Trent buried a confident three at the buzzer, sending the teams to the first full break with the hosts up 28–14.
image
Neno kept pace with his teammate and opened the next ten minutes with another three, while the Fraser–Vonleh alley-oop only underscored Zenit’s momentum. Another long-range make by Trent stretched Zenit’s lead to 20 points, forcing Lokomotiv Kuban to call another timeout. After adjustments by Anton Yudin, the red-and-greens remembered how to score. The teams traded efficient attacks, and Aleksander Sekulić also took a brief timeout, but overall the situation on the floor remained unchanged. The gap not only failed to shrink—it kept growing: Šamanić caught fire and kept slicing to the basket. Zenit’s maximum advantage reached 26 points, and the first half ended 56–34.
image
The start of the second half brought more chaos on the floor. Lokomotiv, realizing they desperately needed to mount a comeback, pushed the pace. Zenit, meanwhile, looked less composed: more turnovers crept into the hosts’ game and efficiency dipped. One of the brightest moments for the blue-white-sky blues was a performance by Vladislav Emchenko—the guard scored his first points of the game, hitting from both close and long range. Although Zenit found its shooting touch again toward the end of the period, the Krasnodar side did respond and trimmed the deficit a bit. That’s how it looked at first… But Levi had other ideas, drilling a buzzer-beating three. The lowest-scoring quarter also went Zenit’s way—75–52.
image
Karasev kept the tradition going, and after Randolph’s buzzer-beater, Zenit opened the next quarter with yet another three. The “+26” margin returned to the scoreboard, and Loko’s comeback hopes faded with every minute. In the closing stages, Neno recorded a double-double, and Zenit stretched the lead to 30 points. In the final minutes, the “railroaders” attempted a run, but it was too late: a series of accurate shots by Fraser put a bold exclamation point on the game. Final score: 98–69. A trend that dates back to last season’s semifinals continues—in this matchup, the home team has now won nine straight games.
Zenit’s top performers today were Trent Frazier (25 points, 5 assists, 4 rebounds), Luka Šamanić (18 points, 2 rebounds), and Andrey Martyuk (17 points, 8 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steal).
Zenit will play its final VTB United League game of 2025 on the road. This Saturday, December 20, Aleksander Sekulić’s team will face UNICS in Kazan. Tip-off is at 3:00 PM St. Petersburg time.
