Zenit kicked a hundred and defeated Tambov in a friendly match
From the first seconds the home team had on the court captain Sergey Karasev, Trent Frazier, Georgy Zhbanov, Vince Hunter and Omari Spellman, who was making his debut for the blue-whites.
Zenit rushed forward from the start. Karasev opened the scoring with a spectacular shot from beyond the arc. The visitors answered with a three points and soon even took the lead. But Zenit immediately showed who was boss. Three points from Spellman and Frazier set the game in motion. Tambov did its best to keep Zenit from going into the break, but the visitors lacked accuracy in finishing.
In the middle of the quarter, Spellman and Zhbanov were replaced by Igor Volkhin and Andrey Vorontsevich, Hunter was replaced by Alex Poythress a little later, Karasev and Frazier left the floor and were replaced by Denis Zakharov and another debutant, Xavier Moon. Toward the end of the quarter, Vorontsevich and Moon adjusted their aim, also hitting threes. Both teams played spectacular offensive basketball, and the first quarter was 32-24 in favour of Zenit.
Egor Ryzhov and Frazier replaced Zakharov and Poythress in the second quarter. Zenit built pressure and gradually increased team speed. Frazier skilfully placed players on the perimeter and directed his partners in some episodes. At the same time, Trent didn't forget to shoot accurately from beyond the arc. Hunter's accurate shot gave Zenit a 55-35 lead at the end of the second quarter. The guests had to take a timeout to catch their breath and try to slow down the high tempo of the game. Vorontsevich once again hit another accurate shot from long range to increase the lead. The home team led 60-39 after the first half.
Zenit's lead became even more tangible at the start of the third quarter. Poythress scored four straight points, then Zhbanov hit from beyond the arc, and Alex was accurate again, putting the ball in the basket — 69:39. The visitors didn't score a single point, although more than four minutes had passed since the start of the quarter. In such a situation, Tambov needed another timeout. Zenit continued to dominate, with Vorontsevich, Daniil Aksenov and Frazier gradually widening the gap. By the final break, the blue-whites led by +35.
The final period of the game was marked by beautiful combination play by the home team. Frazier scored five straight points at 83:43. Egor Ryzhov increased Zenit's lead to +44. The Tambov's defence was cracking at the seams: the longer the game lasted, the more obvious the blue-whites superiority in skill became. When Moon scored the next two points, the intrigue could be found in who would help the home side break a hundred. That honour fell to Poythress, who hit the target from mid-range after a pass from Xavier. The final score was 105:69.
