In the 27th round of the VTB United League regular season, Zenit defeated MBA-MAI 84:74. The match against the Moscow team will be held today at the CSC Arena in St. Petersburg. Let’s take you through the game process.
Zenit’s starting lineup for this game is: Trent Frazier, Andrey Martiuk, Georgy Zbanov, Levi Randolph and Luka Šamanić.
The first point of the game was scored by Andrey Martiuk, the center finishing with a hard breakaway layup. In the first ten minutes, Zenit showed a very high level of defense. In the first half of the first quarter, the visiting team only scored 3 points, of which Georgy Zbanov played a key role. He completed 2 steals in the first 7 minutes of the game. At the end of the first quarter, the Blue, White and Blues took a clear lead at 21:7.
MBA-MAI took the lead in the second quarter. VTB United League veteran and former Zenit guard Evgeny Voronov scored two points on a driving layup. However, Zenit quickly suppressed the Moscow team with high-intensity defense again, which allowed Dejan Radonjić’s team to extend the lead to 18 points. At the end of the second quarter, both sides began to score points back and forth. After MBA-MAI completed several consecutive offenses, Zenit requested a timeout. At the end of the first half, the score was fixed at 46:31.
After the start of the second half, both Zenit and MBA-MAI slowed down the pace of the game and organized their offense more through positional attacks. This change helped the Moscow team narrow the point difference in the third quarter. By controlling the tempo of the game, the visiting team chased the lead to 10 points – 61:51 – entering the final 10 minutes.
The fourth quarter was the toughest quarter for Zenit. MBA-MAI narrowed the deficit to eight points with seven minutes left in the game. At the critical moment, Luka Šamanić stepped forward and became Zenit’s main offensive point. In the middle of the fourth quarter, he scored 4 points in just 40 seconds, disrupting the visiting team’s rhythm. The game was tense in the final minutes, but Trent Frazier and Xavier Moon combined for 7 points to help Zenit stabilize the situation. Final score – 84:74.
Zenit’s most outstanding players in this game were: Luka Šamanić (21 points, 9 rebounds, 1 block), Trent Frazier (18 points, 6 assists, 1 steal) and Georgy Zbanov (11 points, 3 rebounds, 3 steals).
Zenit’s next opponent will be Uralmash Yekaterinburg. On February 12 (Thursday), Zenit will host the fifth round of the WINLINE Basket Cup group stage at CSC Arena in St. Petersburg. The game will start at 20:00 local time. Tickets can be purchased on the club’s official website.
The two sides will meet again on February 19th in Yekaterinburg. This game belongs to the VTB United League and will be played at DIVS Arena. The kick-off time is 17:30 St. Petersburg time.
