Zenit starts VTB League semifinal with away loss
Zenit lost to UNICS on the road in the first game of the 2025/26 VTB United League semifinals. The winner of the match was determined only in overtime — 107:104 in favor of the Kazan team, who now lead the series 1-0.
Zenit's starting five: Andre Roberson, Trent Frazier, Johnny Juzang, Andrey Martiuk, Georgy Zhbanov. Before the start of the match, it was announced that guard Alexander Shcherbenev, forward Igor Volkhin, and center Ismaël Bako, who continues to recover from an injury, were left out of Zenit's roster for the first game of the series.
In the opening minutes, both teams looked for their chances, and did so effectively. In response to the home team's three-pointers from Dyshawn Pierre and Paris Lee, the Blue-White-Sky Blues answered with long-range shots from Roberson and Zhbanov — at the start of the game, Zhora was the most active player on Zenit's roster, scoring 10 points for his team in the first quarter. Kazan and St. Petersburg put on an evenly matched game at an extremely high pace and exchanged leads several times, but by the first break UNICS had taken a slight advantage — 23:18.
The second period, although it started with low scoring, ultimately went Zenit's way. While the home team increasingly relied on free throws, the Blue-White-Sky Blues converted their chances from both close and long range, building a 6-point lead — 38:44.
The third quarter, however, turned out to be a disaster. Immediately after coming back from the locker room, UNICS went on a 12:0 run, knocking Zenit out of their rhythm. Dejan Radonjić's team managed to get back into the game thanks to three-pointers from Martiuk, Zhbanov, and Vorontsevich, but the green side maintained their advantage — 67:61.
The fourth quarter became the essence of today's match in terms of shooting from distance. Both sides displayed a high percentage from beyond the arc, and the lead kept changing hands. With one minute left, Zenit was down by one point, and with 12 seconds remaining on the clock, they were leading by "+3". Dmitry Kulagin's three-pointer allowed Kazan to tie the game and force overtime — 90:90.
In the extra five minutes, the shootout continued. The big basketball match raced toward its conclusion. The final moments belonged to UNICS, who secured a 107:104 victory.
Today's top scorers for Zenit were Luka Šamanič (28 points, 6 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steal) and Georgy Zhbanov (23 points, 7 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steal).
Game 2 of the series will also take place at Kazan's Basket-Hall the day after tomorrow, May 13. The match will start at 19:00 St. Petersburg time.