Zenit U21 lost to CSKA-Junior after winning the first game of the home series

Zenit U21 played a series of games as part of the home round of the VTB United Youth League. The matches against CSKA-Junior took place at the Basketball Academy on March 7 and 8.

The first meeting ended with a confident victory for the Blue-White-Sky Blues, 91:54, but the following day the visitors were stronger, winning 68:84. In the second game, Zenit’s leader Alexander Porotnikov set a career high in the Youth League by scoring 25 points.

Following the results of the home round, Zenit U21 occupies 2nd place in the standings with 37 wins and 5 losses.

Roman Knyazev, Zenit U21 head coach:

In the games against CSKA, it felt like we had returned to last season, when we often produced very different performances in terms of quality. In the first meeting, we had solid defense for almost the entire game; we controlled all of the opponent’s actions and forced them into mistakes, which allowed us to achieve such an easy victory. In the second game, as often happened last year, we came out in a different state. But I must give credit to the opponent — they showed strong aggression today, which unfortunately we could not handle. Throughout the game it was clear that the opponent wanted to win much more than we did. And in the last quarter, completely losing control of the boards finally deprived us of any chances to win this match. Emotions and character are often more important than skills and tactics.

The Blue-White-Sky Blues will also play their next games in Saint Petersburg. On March 11 at 14:00 and March 12 at 17:00, Roman Knyazev’s team will face Krasnoyarsk’s Enisey-2. Both games will take place on the court of the Basketball Academy (Severnaya Road, 12). Admission is free!