Tomorrow, on December 21 basketball club «Astana» will have the final game on the road this year against Petersburg «Zenith» in the championship of VTB United League.
 
The club from St. Petersburg is one position higher than «Astana» in the standings. And if we talk about the opponent of the upcoming game, then for «Astana» team they are used to be their main opponents in the regular season. Therefore, in case of victory, «Astana» residents will have a chance to go one better than «Zenith» in the standings at the end of the first part of the VTB League Cup.
It is worth noting that the team in navy-white-blue uniform plays perfectly on their home arena, however, the capital club «Astana» will seize its chance to come out as the winner in this duel.
 
Ilias Papatheodorou, head coach of PBC «Astana»:
 »The team «Zenith»  is one of the strongest teams in the VTB United League, we will have a very difficult match. Our task is to show our best game. Preparation for the match was not quite successful because of the injuries and illnesses of our players, but, despite this, we are all motivated, it's not every day you play with such a strong opponent.»
 
Broadcasting of the match is available on the VTB United League website at 22.00, Astana time, as well as on the Kazsport TV channel in 22.50.

Zenit scored Astana in the final match of this year — 99:72 (19:17, 18:18, 36:17, 26:20).
 
Despite all the efforts of Artyom Vihrov (15 out of 19 points of St. Petersburg team in the starting 10-minute) in the first half, «Astana» managed to hold back Zenit pressing. The turning point came in the third quarter, when the owners of parquet markedly increased their defense and were more likely to use in fast attacks. Vikhrov scored a spectacular foul ball (49:42) from the middle of the court; from this moment the hosts were feeling daring and became unstoppable. Zenit secured an advantage of breakthrough three-pointer by Pavel Sergeev and Aaron White, and gripped a double-digit advantage ever after. Thus, Zenit interrupted a series of two home defeats and caught up in pursuit of the leaders.
 
The most productive:
 
«Zenith»: Artyom Vihrov (22), Aaron White (19 + 9 rebounds), Kyle Landry (18).
 
«Astana»: Roderick Odom (18 + 8 rebounds), Robert Lowry (16 + 6 assists), Usman Kruballi (8 + 7 rebounds).
 
Head coach of «Zenith» Vasily Karasev:
- Astana is a very good team, and during almost the whole game the team struggled on equal terms with us. This victory, and especially with a large margin, is particularly important for us after our defeat to UNICS and «Locomotive». Today we managed to play the type of basketball that we want to play: aggressive defense and quick transition offense. In the first half, we didn’t made some shots at that speed, but our work paid off in the second half.
 
Head coach of «Astana» Ilias Papatheodorou:
 – We tried to compete and managed to do that for 25 minutes, but, unfortunately, we couldn’t keep up with the tempo and aggressiveness that Zenit imposed on us. Our opponent was better today and deserved to win. But we gave everything we had. The guys fought to the end.
 
The next match of «Astana» will be hold after the New Year, on January 8. The capital team will host «Nizhniy Nowogrod» in the frames of the VTB United League.