Losing to Loko in the end
The battle at CSC Arena opened with a pre-match show, featuring a performance by Mariinsky Theatre’s ballet dancer Maria Shirinkina, accompanied by cellist Ekaterina Travkina. But soon the art of ballet gave way to the art of basketball, and the blue-whites starting five of captain Sergey Karasev, Trent Frazier, Omari Spellman, Dwayne Bacon and Vince Hunter took the court.
Zenit’s first attack began with a quick play that resulted in Fraizer confidently sinking a long-range shot. The opening phase of the game was marked by strong defense from both teams. Zenit’s effective steals were countered by Loko’s shot-blocking. However, towards the middle of the quarter, the visitors had a slight advantage in offence. Zenit failed to score time after time. Loko led by 7 points and Xavi Pascual asked time-out. Dwayne Bacon managed to neutralise the drought after his third shot in one attack. Zenit was often let down by execution. Out of 20 two-point shots in the first ten minutes, only one in four reached the target. The first period ended with the score 15:17 in favour of the visitors.
The pace of the second quarter was slightly different. The blue-whites made more quick attacks and took the lead by the end of the second minute through Xavier Moon's efforts, while Hunter and Poythress helped to establish a comfortable "+6" lead. Lokomotiv-Kuban's defensive fouls gave Zenit an additional 11 points from free throws. Both teams missed shots in the final moments, leading to a halftime score of 34:32.
Zenit began the second half with an emphatic dunk from Alex Poythress. The game continued with a gritty, physical battle, as every action and mistake was crucial. At times, Georgy Zhbanov stole the spotlight, first with a strong dunk and then with an assist to Spellman, who nailed a three-pointer. Despite Zenit holding the upper hand for most of the quarter, the teams entered the final period with Loko up by just a point — 54:55.
The last ten minutes started poorly for Zenit, as Loko opened with a 6-0 run. Letting guests pull further away was not an option, so the foreign players took control. Bacon hit shots from the free-throw line and mid-range, Hunter sprinted for a fast break and dunked, and Spellman’s three-pointer tied the game. However, despite Moon's impressive 12 points in the fourth quarter, Loko managed to edge out a win in the end, finishing 76:83.
Zenit’s top performers were Xavier Moon with 26 points, 4 rebounds, and a steal, block, and assist each, Omari Spellman with 13 points, 3 rebounds, and a steal, and Dwayne Bacon with 11 points, 3 rebounds, and a steal, block, and assist each.
Xavi Pascual's team will play their next regular-season game at home on Wednesday, October 9, against Pari Nizhny Novgorod at 19:30 Saint Petersburg time. Tickets are available at tickets.bc-zenit.com.
