The UMMC Arena hosted one of the best Ural derbies in recent years.

The Russian Super Cup always delivers a show, even if the outcome feels familiar so far. UMMC lift the trophy for the fifth straight year since its introduction before the 2020/21 season, once again making their fans sweat for it. Only back in 2021 did the Foxes cruise to a truly dominant win.

This year’s Super Cup once again featured UMMC and Nadezhda — the reigning champion and the silver medalist of the 2024/25 Russian Championship. Their latest Ural derby (83–81) turned out to be even hotter than their first clash in last season’s finals (91–83).   

The 2025 Super Cup became the tenth consecutive domestic trophy for Dmitrii Donskov’s team. Since the 2021/22 season, when Dynamo Kursk briefly interrupted their run, the Foxes have swept all competitions: three Russian Championships, three Russian Cups, and now four Super Cups in a row.   

30-13 in fouls and 4-33 in free throws

Nadezhda committed 30 fouls compared to 13 by UMMC, while the free throw attempts were 4-33 for Nadezhda and UMMC, respectively.

Orenburg came out aggressive from the very first seconds, building a 6-point lead by the middle of the opening quarter. But 11 fouls in the first ten minutes and inexplicably slow reactions by the yellow-and-maroon team under their own basket wiped out all of Evgeni Ivanov’s team’s efforts, leaving them trailing by 11 at the start of the second quarter.

The high foul count may have been what allowed the visitors to partially halt the hosts’ offensive momentum. On the night, Nadezhda outshone UMMC in both two-point shooting (67.6% vs. 45.2%) and three-pointers (40.9% vs. 35.5%). Yet the Foxes, having adjusted to Orenburg’s style, continued methodically earning trips to the free-throw line. Even there, the Yekaterinburg team struggled, hitting just 22 of 33 shots (66.7%).

Ironically, Nadezhda ran out of time for a foul in the final moments, falling just 14 seconds short of giving themselves a little more than 2.1 seconds for a shot to tie the game or snatch the win.

One of the standout players for the Orenburg team was guard Ashley Beverly, who scored a game-high 23 points while shooting 9-of-12 from the field. Beverly led the visitors’ comeback from a 12-point deficit, posting 13 points in the fourth quarter, dishing out an assist to Anastasia Badina for a clutch three-pointer, and making an impressive block on a long-range attempt by Karina Nizamova.

Anastasia Badina, who is still finding her footing in Nadezhda and hasn’t yet seen much playing time, made a strong impact down the stretch. She finished with 10 points (4-of-4 from the field), grabbed several offensive rebounds, and delivered key baskets that kept Nadezhda in the fight.

Nadezhda outperformed UMMC in field goal percentage (57.6% vs. 40.3%) and even out-rebounded the Foxes, but too many fouls, 20 turnovers, and struggles on their own glass prevented the Orenburg team from taking the win in the Ural capital.

Source: https://m.sports.ru/basketball/blogs/3360749.html