Zenit scores a hundred points and crushes PARMA at home
After a successful trip to Kazan, Xavi Pascual's team returned home for an exciting match against PARMA. Last weekend, the Ural team finally tasted victory and was ready to put up a fight in today’s game. Here’s how well they managed, as we recount in our report.
Due to a minor injury, Xavier Moon missed the game, but team captain Sergey Karasev returned to the starting five after a strong performance in the previous match against Kazan. Joining the experienced guard on the court at CSC Arena from the start were Trent Frazier, Omari Spellman, Dwayne Bacon and Vince Hunter, who contested the opening tip-off with former Zenit player Royce Hamm.
One of the highlights of the opening moments was when Gleb Firsov was blocked powerfully by Hunter, allowing Zenit to launch a fast break, which Bacon capped off with a graceful three-pointer — 5:0 at the start. For Parma, Alex Hamilton shone early on, being the only player scoring for the visiting team. On Zenit's side, Spellman and Bacon took turns leading the offense, consistently hitting shots. The slow pace of the game affected the low scoring. The most uneventful quarter ended with a dunk from Poythress, solidifying an 18:10 lead for the home team.
In the first two minutes of the second quarter, Zenit's surge extended the lead to 12 points. A timeout by Evgeny Pashutin didn’t change much, as Georgy Zhbanov soon finished off a fast break by the blue-whites. From the middle of the quarter the scoreboard showed 33:11 — it seemed PARMA hadn’t even stepped onto the court in the second period. After a brief response from Parma, the game returned to Zenit's control. With 4.5 seconds left in the quarter, Xavi Pascual used his remaining timeout to organize an interesting play. And it worked: Omari hit a two-pointer at the buzzer. The teams went into halftime with the score at 46:22.
The third quarter initially looked like a test for the guests: whether they would be able to reduce such a catastrophic gap. Zenit continued to calmly bend its line. Our team played solid defence and built up their lead through chemistry on the offensive end, as well as individual actions by the players. For example, Karasev's accurate shot from beyond the arc, his third in the game, was one of those actions. Bacon hit three-pointers, Poythress and Spellman dunked — 78:41 before the final quarter.
In the closing stretch of the game, Pascual's team featured an all-Russian lineup: Shcherbenev, Zakharov, Ryzhov, Volkhin and Vorontsevich. Denis Zakharov hit dunks and long-range shots, while Egor Ryzhov and Alexander Shcherbenev were accurate from the free-throw line and mid-range. Trent Frazier hit a three-pointer to bring the score to 100, as he did in the match against MBA-MAI. The final score was 100:56.
The top scorers today were Omari Spellman (19 points + 5 rebounds + 1 assist), Dwayne Bacon (16 points + 3 rebounds + 3 assists), and Sergey Karasev (12 points + 2 rebounds + 1 block). Alex Poythress and Vince Hunter each recorded two blocks.
Zenit's next game in the VTB United League regular season will also be at home on October 6. The blue-whites will face Lokomotiv-Kuban from Krasnodar. The matcj will start at 16:00. Tickets are available at tickets.bc-zenit.com.
