For the second year in a row, MBA-Junior’s opponent in the semi-finals was Zenit-M, but this time the Saint-Petersburg’ team have won. There was a lot of drama: losing 18 points after the first half, Muscovites managed to take the game into overtime (79:79). And yet Zenit-M turned out to be stronger – 94:86.
As a result, the finalists of last season met in the bronze medal game this time. And at first it seemed that the teams had left all their emotions on the floor yesterday: the opponents started with a series of mistakes, and after a minute and a half there still were zeroes on the scoreboard. Then Artem Oreshnikov finally opened score with a mid-range shot. MBA responded instantly, but Daniil Ginko was also precise – 4:2.
Demid Tyulubaev showed great grit in rebounding – he literally dived for the ball, and second chances he created brought Loko-2 4 points ahead. However, the game was close until the first short break. There was enough beauty in this ten-minute period: a blocked shot by Oreshnikov, a dunk by Vsevolod Ishchenko, an excellent actions in the post by Artem Koryakovsky, a three-pointer by Daniil Ginko… However, by the end of the 1st quarter Loko -2 had to catch up – 15:17.
But not for long: Nikita Ryabov immediately equalized the score when the game resumed. This gave a start to a decent run – 10:0, forcing MBA-Junior coach Dmitry Ovsyuk to take a time-out. But that didn’t help to slow down the pace of Loko-2. Another interception by Gerasimov followed by a quick break and a dunk by Oreshnikov – 34:21, and one more time-out for the Moscow team.
Then the opponent then began to reduce the gap, and it was Ilya Kuznetsov’s turn to take time-outs. 8 seconds before the end of the first half, the gap shrinked to only 7 points, but Ginko scored a long-ranged buzzer and again regained the double-digit margin – 37:27.
However, the southerners kept in mind, that the day before MBA-Junior had revived even from a greater disadvantage. At some point, it seemed that they would succeed again: in the 27th minute, only 5 points separated the opponents from each other (45:40).
At the same time, Ishchenko, Sergey Shchetinin and Tyulubaev were on 4 fouls, which forced them to be careful in defense. The 3rd quarter ended with 3 free throws by Semyon Gerasimov, all of which he managed to score.
Due to that, Loko-2 started the final ten minutes leading 53:44. A couple of minutes later Tyulubaev tested the strength of the Basket Hall rings – 59:46, a lead with an almost bronze tint.
MBA-Junior continued to fight until the last seconds, but the gap was too big. 73:56 – Loko-2 is the bronze medalist of the VTB United Youth League! Bravo, guys! A well-deserved victory!
