Zenit’s farm team loses at home
Zenit-2 suffered a defeat against Dynamo Primorye in a Round 14 game of the FONBET Super League regular season. During the match, the Blue-White-Sky Blues managed to cut the deficit from 17 points to just 2, but the visitors prevailed in the closing minutes.
Zenit-2 starting lineup: Daniil Ginko, Egor Evstafiev, Vladislav Samukhin, Ilyas Abdul, and Ivan Prokopenko.
The opening minutes of the contest featured intense, evenly matched play. For the hosts, Ginko and Abdul successfully converted drives to the basket, while Dynamo’s Ershov and Crowley led the scoring for the visitors. Gradually, however, the initiative shifted to the Primorye side. With the score at 8:15 in favor of Dynamo, Oliver Popovic called the first timeout of the game. After that, Zenit-2 went on a 10:0 run to take the lead. The visitors were not rattled by the surge: after halting the Petersburgers’ run, they responded with a 12-point streak of their own. The opening quarter ended with Dynamo leading 18:27.
After a short break, the Vladivostok team’s run continued, and at one point the gap reached 17 points. Soon after, the Blue-White-Sky Blues found their rhythm, moved the ball well in transition, and thanks to accurate shooting by Abdul, Ginko, and Prokopenko, cut the deficit to five points. The visitors attempted to restore a double-digit lead, but the end of the half belonged to the hosts — largely thanks to forward Dmitry Rodionov, who first scored on a fast break and then drained a three-pointer at the buzzer. The halftime score was 38:43.
Coming out of the locker room, Oliver Popovic’s team was determined to mount a comeback. Team leaders Krivykh, Prokopenko, and Ginko were effective on offense and helped Zenit-2 close to within just two points. However, Dynamo had answers of their own in Crowley and Smith. Heading into the final quarter, the scoreboard showed 60:67.
In the final period, the Blue-White-Sky Blues did everything they could to catch up and fight for the win. But the visitors’ defense held firm, and the closing stretch belonged to Dynamo. In the final minutes, Smith, Crowley, Ershov, and Zakharov restored Dynamo’s lead to more than 10 points. The final score was 77:93.
Zenit-2’s top scorers were Daniil Ginko (22 points, 7 assists, 4 rebounds, 1 steal) and Ilya Krivykh (17 points, 7 rebounds, 1 block).
Oliver Popovic’s team will play its next game on the road. The match against Khimki will take place on January 20 and will tip off at 19:00.
