The farm team wins in the last match of the year
From the very first seconds on the court of the Basketball Academy, Daniil Ginko, Egor Evstafiev, Vladislav Samukhin, Dmitry Rodionov, and Ilyas Abdul appeared.
The match started with an accurate shot from Ginko from mid-range, after which the guests responded with a drive from Kondakov. In the debut, both teams demonstrated a slow pace of play, conducting prolonged positional attacks, taking turns hitting the opponent's basket. However, at the end of the first quarter, the Blue-White-Sky Blues managed to make a run that allowed them to gain a comfortable advantage: along with several successful free throws, Zenit-2 added a three-pointer from Chikishev and a dunk from Krivykh — 25:20 after the first quarter.
In the next segment, Zenit-2 continued in the same spirit. Closer to the middle of the period, the home team went up by "+10", thanks to captain Artem Khodorich, who was having the most productive match of his FONBET Superleague career. Metallurg tried to resist and had good moments: Kondakov and Balandin scored from close range, while Glazunov and Maltsev hit from beyond the arc. However, the teams went into halftime with the Petersburgers leading — 43:36.
In the second half, the match progressed in equal struggle, but Zenit-2 did not allow their opponents to close the gap, starting the quarter with high scoring and pulling ahead by 14 points. The Ural team attacked well from long range and forced the Blue-White-Sky Blues into fouls. Before the decisive quarter, the scoreboard read 65:67.
In the final ten minutes, Zenit-2 finally got into a rhythm and extended the lead to a crushing margin. Artem Khodorich set a career high (25 points), Evstafiev and Prokopenko hit from long range, and Krivykh delivered a powerful dunk. Metallurg scored only 14 points in this quarter and could not mount a competitive challenge. The final score was 99:71.
The most productive players for the Blue-White-Sky Blues today were Artem Khodorich (1 rebound, 1 assist, 1 steal, 1 block), Ivan Kasyanov (17 points, 9 rebounds, 3 steals, 2 assists), and Ivan Prokopenko (16 points, 3 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steal).
On January 7, 2026, Zenit-2 will play their first match of the quarterfinals of the Gazprombank Russian Cup. The game against Pari Nizhny Novgorod will take place in St. Petersburg at the court of the Basketball Academy (Severnaya Road, 12). The meeting will start at 19:00 local time. Come and support the team, entry is free!
