Farm team will host FONBET Super League leader on home court
Zenit-2 returns to its home court after five consecutive away games in the FONBET Super League regular championship. Tomorrow, December 25, the Blue-White-Sky Blues will face Chelyabinsk's CBK. The match will take place at the Basketball Academy (Severnaya Road, 12) and will start at 19:00 St. Petersburg time. Admission for fans is free!
Our opponent continues to lead the standings and, ahead of their 14th game in the regular season, has already clinched the first-round title early, currently holding a record of 11 wins and 2 losses. The Blue-White-Sky Blues, in turn, have played one game less and with 7 wins occupy 6th place.
After two consecutive November losses to Surgut's Yugra and Ufa's Dynamo, the Chelyabinsk team has fully recovered and strung together four straight wins. To this successful streak, one can also add a draw against Temp-SUMZ (82:82), a result that allowed CBK, like Zenit-2, to qualify for the quarterfinals of the Gazprombank Russian Cup.
The leading players for the visitors remain the Americans Nathaniel Pollard and Cortez Edwards. Nathaniel, playing as a power forward, averages 14.1 points and 6.3 rebounds per game for his team. Meanwhile, Cortez averages 13.1 points and 5.8 assists in 27 minutes — the highest average playing time on CBK.
The teams approach tomorrow's game with a head-to-head record of 2-2.
Zenit-2 forward Mikhail Dulkay shared his thoughts before the game against the Urals team.
— The regular season leader is coming to St. Petersburg. What are your expectations for the game against CBK?
— Yes, Chelbasket is currently in first place in the regular season, with only two losses. But the Super League is a very, very unpredictable league where any team can beat any other. Chelbasket plays very aggressively, the most aggressive in the league, especially on defense. And they play at the highest pace while maintaining quality. They really play quality basketball. But you can find an approach to any team. We are actively preparing now, slightly adjusting how we usually play to counter their defense. And we will give 100%. The main thing is to play tough and not give up an inch on the court.
— If we don't count the cup game, Zenit-2 has played five consecutive away Super League matches. Is it nice to finally play in front of your fans again?
— Absolutely, it's very nice to play at home again. I invite everyone to our match. Especially since our game starts at 19:00 again, so I hope to see a lot of fans. With the support of the home crowd, there's a completely different energy. And I'm sure our beloved fans can help us beat the leader.
The match broadcast will be available on the Russian Basketball Federation website.
