Zenit-2 suffers first home court defeat
St. Petersburg’s Zenit-2 and Moscow region’s Khimki delivered a spectacular and competitive match in the 12th round of the Fonbet Super League. This was the teams' first head-to-head encounter since their semifinal series last season.
Pavel Zemskiy, Vladislav Samukhin, Daniil Aksenov, Artem Khodorich and Mikhail Dulkay started the game for the blue-whites from first seconds on the Basketball Academy court.
The game began dynamically, marked by numerous turnovers and steals from both sides. Both teams capitalized on second-chance points. By the middle of the first quarter, Khimki established an eight-point lead "+8", which Aksenov set out to erase. The Zenit guard hit a three-pointer, scored two points on a fast break and converted a pair of free throws, leveling the score. Though the yellow-blues managed to regain a slight advantage, Zenit-2 kept the game close. The first quarter ended 20:24 in favor of the visitors.
In the second quarter, Zenit-2 attempted to seize the lead. Team captain Elkhan Akhmedov hit several long-range shots, missing only one of three attempts, while Ivan Prokopenko carried forward his strong play from the end of the previous quarter, scoring several crucial points. However, midway through the quarter, Zenit-2 struggled offensively and made defensive errors, allowing Khimki to pull ahead once again. At halftime, the score stood at 36:44.
After the break, Khimki’s Sergey Mikhalev and Kirill Popov shone with impressive solo drives, threatening to put the game out of Zenit-2’s reach. However, the hosts responded with an 11:2 run, coming close to leveling the score. Despite this effort, Khimki once again built a comfortable lead, ending the third quarter 56:63.
In the final ten minutes, Khimki held firm. Despite the valiant efforts of Zenit-2’s top performers Ivan Prokopenko (19 points) and Pavel Zemskiy (17 points), who repeatedly broke through the defense and hit long-range shots, the blue-whites were unable to mount a competitive finish. The game ended 70:79 in favor of Khimki.
Zenit-2’s next game will take place away on December 15 in Rostov-on-Don. They will face the local BARS-RGEU team, with the game starting at 13:00 St. Petersburg time. The match will be streamed live on the website of the Russian Basketball Federation.
