Zenit U21 parted peace with MINSK-M in the home confrontation
The games of the next in line round of the VTB United Youth League took place at Zenit Basketball Academy. The blue-whites hosted MINSK-M on home court on December 10 and 11.
On the first game day, Roman Knyazev's team achieved a confident victory with a score of 79:56. The key moments of the game were the second quarter, where they managed to secure an advantage, and the final period, which turned out to be the most productive for Zenit U21. Ivan Vasiliev stood out as the best player for St. Peterburg team in the opening game, delivering a double-double with 14 points, 15 rebounds, 2 assists and 1 steal. Timofey Komissarov also contributed 14 points, along with 9 rebounds, 3 steals and 1 block.
The second game was mostly dominated by the visitors, who seized the initiative from the first quarter. In the final ten minutes blue-whites had their best chances to equalize, but the final scoreboard showed 62:74 in favor of Minsk. Once again, Vasiliev was the top scorer for Zenit U21, adding 13 points and 9 rebounds to his tally. This time, it was Komissarov who secured a double-double with 12 points, 10 rebounds, 2 assists and 2 steals.
Egor Evstafiev, Zenit U21 forward:
Two games turned out to be difficult, in each we tried to get out of difficult situations into which we drove ourselves. We managed to win the first match, but not the second. This will be a good lesson for us that even being favorites, we must go out extremely determined and avoid such misfires. I didn't play it properly myself. The series with Khimki is coming soon, we need to prepare and give everything 120%.
The youth team will play their next games against TSSP-Khimki-2, also at the Zenit Basketball Academy (Severnaya Road, 12). The game on December 14 will start at 13:00, while the December 15 game will begin at 14:00. Entry for all fans is free. Each game will be broadcast on the VTB United Youth League website in the match schedule section.
More details about the upcoming opponent can be found in our preview.
