Zenit defeated MBA-MAI at home – 103:75 (22:18, 25:23, 33:13, 23:21).

Game progress
The game started with Vince Hunter, Xavier Moon and Trent Frazier made shots. By the middle of the first quarter, the hosts had a double-digit lead – 15:4. The Moscow team shook things up when Andrey Zubkov appeared. The experienced forward 9 points in the quarter allowed MBA-MAI to cut the deficit to just one shot – 14:17.

The Moscow team responded to the individual skill of the St. Petersburg team players with Makar Konovalov, Danil Pevnev and Vladislav Trushkin actions. As a result, Zenit had slight lead by halftime – 47:41.

Key moment
The third quarter was the key. The hosts became more active in defense and forced the opponent to make a lot of mistakes. Dwayne Bacon took the lead on Zenit offense. The forward aggressive drives into the paint opened up the Moscow team defense time after time and Zenit quickly took the lead. Before the final quarter, Zenit lead reached 26 points, which guaranteed the win in this game – 80:54.

X-factor
Quality defense helped Zenit to change the game. In the key third quarter, the hosts forced 11 turnovers. In total, MBA-MAI had 22 turnovers in the game. The St. Petersburg team had 15 steals.

Fact
The St. Petersburg team managed to break a negative tradition. Zenit had lost the opening games of the season for 3 straight years in a row. And all 3 of them were at home.

Zenit became the first team of the season to score more than 100 points in a single game.

Ivan Belousov became the first Russian player to debut in the VTB League this season. MBA-MAI guard played 23 minutes, scoring 3 points, 7 assists and 3 rebounds. Also Maxim Ogarkov made debut with 1 rebound in 8 minutes.

Leaders
Zenit: Dwayne Bacon (21), Xavier Moon (14 + 6 assists + 4 steals), Alex Poythress (13), Trent Frazier (13), Vince Hunter (11).
MBA-MAI: Andrey Zubkov (16 + 5 rebounds), Danil Pevnev (15).

What’s next
Zenit: September 25 at home against Avtodor
MBA-MAI: September 26 at home versus Enisey