The youth team starts the season with two wins

Zenit U21 kicked off the VTB Youth United League season with two home games against Samara-2. The matches took place on October 7 and 8 at the blue-whites Academy of Basketball.

Roman Knyazev's team started the first meeting from the position of laggards, losing the starting segment and going on a long break with "-3". However, the second half was completely left to our guys, and 84:74 was on the scoreboard.The top scorers for the hosts were Mikhail Presnyakov (15 points + 5 rebounds + 1 assist + 1 steal) and Timofey Komissarov (15 points + 5 rebounds + 3 steals).

In the second game, the St. Petersburg team took the lead from the start. A 24:14 run in the first quarter set the tone for the rest of the match. The second and third periods came out equal, but in the final ten minutes the Zenit players firmly established their superiority, winning 86:71. Ivan Vasiliev (19 points + 7 rebounds + 2 steals + 2 blocks) and Alexander Porotnikov (17 points + 2 assists + 3 steals) were the standout performers on the court.

Timofey Komissarov, Zenit U21 forward:

Our two games went pretty well overall. We played smart basketball. There were many miss-matches that we capitalized on effectively. Overall, our young roster looked competitive against the opposition. But we will keep working, striving harder and aiming to play at an even higher level.

Roman Knyazev, head coach of Zenit U21:

I am grateful to the players for their dedication and fulfilment of our plan. Of course, there were unfortunate mistakes, we can't do without them in the opening games. We will try to correct them before the next games. The opponent showed good basketball, and it was quite difficult to cope with oversized players. I'm glad that we managed to win these games. This will give us more confidence that we are doing the right job.

The youth team will play its next round of games at home in just a few days. On October 11 and 12, St. Petersburg will host Saratov's Avtodor-2. The games start at 21:00 and 18:00. Admission is free for fans.