Zenit wins in Kazan and advances to the WINLINE Basket Cup Final Four

Zenit secured a confident away victory over UNICS in the Round 6 game of the WINLINE Basket Cup group stage. The game, held today in Kazan, ended with a score of 77:85 in favor of the Blue-White-Sky Blues.

Thanks to this victory, Zenit finished the group stage in second place in Group B and qualified for the tournament’s Final Four. All the key moments from today’s matchup are in our report.

Zenit’s starting five: Trent Frazier, Georgy Zhbanov, Ismaël Bako, Vladislav Emchenko, and Luka Šamanić. Xavier Moon and Dmitry Uzinskiy returned to Zenit’s roster after recovering from injuries.

The beginning of the game was quite difficult: both teams played tight defense, and the first points came from free throws — Luka scored for us, while Marcus Bingham converted for the opponent. Kazan responded to two powerful drives by Vlad Emchenko (once the guard delivered a perfect pass to Bako, another time he attacked the rim himself) with a three-pointer from Lopatin. However, by the middle of the quarter UNICS managed to build a "+5" lead, forcing Dejan Radonjić to call the first timeout. Overall, the home team stayed ahead until the end of the opening quarter, although the situation could have changed at any moment — 23:19.

That is exactly what happened in the next stretch. We began the second quarter with an 8:0 run, which forced UNICS to call a timeout. Even after the pause, Zenit continued to push forward — Zhbanov scored in transition and from beyond the arc, extending the run to 13:0. The lead kept growing, with Zhbanov and Juzang leading the visitors’ offense. By halftime, our team had built a very confident 17-point advantage — 35:52.

In the second half, Zenit fully controlled the flow of the game. Xavier Moon shined and led the team to victory — the Blue-White-Sky Blues guard scored from all positions and finished the game with 27 points (4/4 from three-point range). Until the final buzzer, the team from Saint Petersburg maintained a solid lead, and whenever instability appeared, Zenit’s head coach immediately made adjustments that influenced the course of the game. The match ended 77:85 in favor of the Northern Capital club.

Next comes the Final Four, where Zenit will face Moscow’s CSKA in the very first game. The semifinal will take place on April 10. The third-place game is scheduled for April 11, and the final will be held on April 12. Tickets are now on sale!