Zenit secures seventh consecutive victory
From the first minutes at the Basket Hall, the visitors took the court with their starting lineup featuring captain Sergey Karasev, Trent Frazier, Dwayne Bacon, Vince Hunter and Andrey Vorontsevich.
The game began with both teams mirroring each other's moves. Hunter scored two with a foul? Konovalov responded in kind. Vince dunked to give his team a "+2"? Give Makar a chance, and he'll drive for a layup. This back-and-forth defined the start of the first quarter. When Bacon sank a three-pointer, Konovalov immediately answered with his own shot from beyond the arc — the MBA-MAI guard ended up with 10 points in this ten-minute stretch. As soon as Zenit started to pull ahead with a "+5" lead, the home team's coaching staff quickly called a timeout, but that didn't stop the momentum of the blue-whites. Poythress scored with a hook shot, Spellman hit from long range and Bacon slammed it down. The first quarter concluded with Zenit leading 16:25.
In the next ten minutes, Zenit quickly extended their lead to double digits, seemingly poised to increase it further: Moon and Zhbanov pushed the gap to "+14". However, midway through the period, MBA-MAI went on a 9:0 run, prompting Xavi Pascual to call a timeout to adjust his team's strategy. The break helped shake up the blue-whites, and Bacon’s hook shot ended Zenit's scoring drought. Meanwhile, the Moscow squad kept firing, repeatedly hitting threes. Andrey Vorontsevich, not to be outdone, stepped beyond the arc after a screen and confidently drained a three-pointer. Zhbanov forced turnovers, grabbed offensive rebounds and scored on multiple putbacks. In this intense chase by the Moscow team, the halftime score stood at 40:47.
A bright start from home team guard Daniil Kasatkin in the second half fueled MBA-MAI’s comeback. Soon enough, Vladislav Trushkin, following a fast break, cut the deficit to just 1 point, and in the next play, he tied the game. Zenit responded with a basket from Karasev, two scores from Poythress assisted by Vorontsevich, and a couple of drives by Frazier, who skillfully maneuvered around Konovalov in the paint. Despite the hosts' surge, Zenit never let their opponents take the lead and calmly regained control, with their advantage fluctuating between 2 to 8 points. The standout moments of this quarter included solo runs from Moon and Bacon, who effortlessly penetrated the home team's defense. Heading into the final quarter, Zenit remained in the lead — 62:72.
In the last period, fans witnessed a very cautious and precise performance from Zenit on both offense and defense. A dunk and a drive from Poythress were the only highlights from the visitors in the first four minutes of the final quarter. But most importantly, besides one successful drive from Andrey Zubkov, Xavi Pascual's squad didn't allow MBA to score during this stretch. After passing the midway point of the quarter, Zenit accelerated and stretched the lead to a blowout, all while maintaining solid defense. Zenit secured the victory with a final score of 68:89, marking their seventh consecutive win.
Dwayne Bacon (26 points, 5 assists, 5 rebounds, 1 steal), Poythress (15 points, 7 rebounds, 1 block) and Trent Frazier (14 points, 2 assists, 2 steals, 1 rebound) were the top performers for the blue-whites.
Zenit's next away game will be on November 17 in Perm. The 15th round of the VTB United League against PARMA will kick off at 15:30 St. Petersburg time.
