Zenit secures victory over PARMA in the final moments
The Blue-White-Sky Blues defeated Perm’s BETCITY PARMA on the road with a score of 78:84. The match was part of the 29th round of the regular season of the VTB United League. Here’s a summary of the key moments from today’s showdown.
Zenit’s starting five: Trent Frazier, Andrey Martiuk, Georgy Zhbanov, Levi Randolph, and Andrey Vorontsevich. Like in the game against Uralmash, Luka Šamanić missed today’s match due to injury.
Andrey Martiuk scored the first points, impressively taking on the hosts’ big man Gleb Firsov and putting the ball in the basket. However, the Ural team continued to score consecutively while Zenit’s offense went quiet for a while. Levi Randolph ended the lull, first scoring from close range and then from long distance. From the bench, Dmitry Uzinskiy was strong on rebounds, while Andre Roberson converted free throws. By mid-quarter, the score remained even, but at the end of the period, BETCITY PARMA went on a productive run and gained a significant advantage — 26:18.
In the next quarter, the initiative remained with the Perm team. The hosts executed their attempts well and kept the opponent at bay. The only player Zenit couldn’t contain was Randolph — the American guard led the Saint Petersburg team at the start of the ten-minute stretch, scoring 7 points in just a few minutes. Gradually, Zenit found their rhythm and managed to cut the double-digit deficit down to just 3 points, but PARMA needed a few possessions to return to a +9 lead, forcing the Blue-White-Sky Blues coaching staff to call another timeout. By halftime, the Urals remained in the lead — 48:42.
For a long time after returning from the locker room, the Perm team maintained their lead. However, after a timeout in the middle of the quarter, Zenit went on an 11:2 run, reducing the gap from 11 to 2 points: Frazier and Vorontsevich hit three-pointers, and Roberson added a "and-one" to his drive. In the final minutes of the period, the teams traded the lead, but Trent had the final word. With 4 seconds left on the clock, Vladislav Emchenko received his second technical foul and was ejected. There was very little time left for an attack, yet Frazier ran the full length of the court and hit a buzzer-beater from beyond the arc — 66:67 heading into the decisive quarter.
In the final quarter, the teams played very closely. The Blue-White-Sky Blues was briefly pressured by PARMA’s young forward Lev Svinin, who made three consecutive long-range shots. However, the 5-point gap was neutralized by the Saint Petersburg team, and the game went into a clutch, where Zenit emerged victorious. The decisive points for Zenit were scored by Levi and Andre. The final score — 78:84.
The top performers for Zenit today were Levi Randolph (20 points, 1 steal), Trent Frazier (18 points, 3 rebounds, 3 steals, 2 assists), and Andre Roberson (13 points, 9 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals, 2 blocks).
Zenit’s next match will take place after the league break — on March 7, Dejan Radonjić’s team will face Kazan UNICS on the road. The game will start at 18:00 Saint Petersburg time.
