Zenit will play in the series for the bronze medals of the 2025/26 VTB United League season

The Blue-White-Sky Blues lost away to UNICS in the seventh game of the semifinals and will now play in the series for third place in the 2025/26 VTB United League season. Today's game ended with a score of 64:55 in favor of the Kazan team.

Alexander Shcherbenev, Igor Volkhin, and Johnny Juzang, who continues to recover from a right calf muscle injury, missed the decisive semifinal matchup. From the very first seconds on the court of the Basket-Hall, the following players started for our team: Andre Roberson, Trent Frazier, Andrey Martiuk, Georgy Zhbanov, and Vladislav Emchenko.

The teams had an uneven start. The first points came from the Blue-White-Sky Blues — Martiuk easily drove to the basket after a pass from Zhbanov, and in the next possession, Zhora himself hit a shot from beyond the arc. The hosts responded with a second-chance score from Bingham. After another make by Martiuk, Zenit lit up the scoreboard at 2:7, having a more successful first few minutes overall. However, then the execution began to fail the Petersburg side. Meanwhile, UNICS displayed tough defense (4 blocked shots in this quarter) and ran fast breaks. As a result, the not-so-significant gap evaporated, and Kazan took the lead — largely thanks to three-pointers from Alexey Shved and Andrey Lopatin. The opening period remained with UNICS — 16:10.

Long-range shots were particularly working well for the hosts, so two more three-pointers from the opponent and a "-12" deficit forced Dejan Radonjić to call his first timeout. After the head coach's adjustments, Zenit managed to disrupt Kazan's rhythm and looked for their own chances. When the Blue-White-Sky Blues cut the lead to 5 points, a minute-long pause was needed by Velimir Perasović. The battle on the Basket-Hall court continued, and the next score from either team was waited for over two minutes, when Paris Lee scored for Kazan. Zenit players were let down by their shooting percentage — less than 30% from both close and long range. The second timeout revived the team from the Northern capital: Andre and Vlad cut the deficit to one possession — 28:26. The shootout in the final minutes resulted in the teams heading to the break with a score of 33:29.

The third quarter was crucial for today's matchup and the entire series. UNICS kept their opponents at a distance and did not allow Zenit to close the gap. The Petersburg team continued to suffer from low shooting percentage and committed too many turnovers. A buzzer-beater by Paris Lee extended the green team's lead — 50:39. In the final ten-minute period, the hosts saw the game through to victory. The final score — 64:55.

In the series for bronze, the Blue-White-Sky Blues will compete against Krasnodar's Lokomotiv Kuban. The matchup will begin in Saint Petersburg on June 1 and 3. Tickets are on sale on Zenit's official website.