Championship master class for Astana: «+31» and the 5th victory of the season!

Main team news

02.11.2023

The current winners of the VTB United League, with the support of the native stands of the Basket Hall, did not leave a single chance for Astana. Our guys firmly seized the initiative from the first seconds, defeating the guests from Kazakhstan with a score of 96:65 in a bright and spectacular style.

Already at the end of the starting quarter, the white-greens ran away to a double-digit distance (23:12) and then methodically increased their lead, which by the buzzer exceeded the 30-point mark.

Velimir PERASOVIC's team handled the ball much more carefully (9 to 16 in losses), surpassed opponents under the baskets (40 against 33 in rebounds) and showed an impressive 72% of the realization of shots from medium and close distance (26/36).

6 basketball players of UNICS finished the match with a double-digit number of points scored. Jalen REYNOLDS was the most productive as usual (19 + 5 rebounds). Erick GREEN showed diverse statistics in his debut game on the floor of the Basket Hall: 17 + 6 rebounds + 5 assists. Marcos KNIGHT added 15 points, 4 assists and 3 steals. Neno Dimitrijevic collected 14 points, 7 assists and 4 rebounds. Louis LABEYRIE loaded 11 points into the opponents' basket and collected 6 rebounds. Ismael BAKO scored a double-double of 10 points with 12 rebounds, made 5 blocked shots to the basketball players of Astana.

UNICS won the fifth victory of the season and secured the second place in the VTB United League table. Our team will play its next regular season match on Sunday, November 5, in St. Petersburg against Zenit.

UNICS (Kazan, Russia) – Astana (Astana, Kazakhstan) – 96:65 (23:12, 31:25, 22:14, 20:14).
UNICS: Reynolds (19+5 rebounds), Green (17+6 rebounds+5 assists), Knight (15+4 assists+3 steals), Dimitrijevic (14+7 assists+2 steals), Labeyrie (11+6 rebounds), Bako (10+12 rebounds+5 blocked shots+2 passes +2 steals).
Astana: Johnson (17+11 assists), Anderson (16+2 rebounds+2 assists), Davis (15+4 rebounds), Hamm (11+8 rebounds).

POST-MATCH COMMENTS:

Velimir PERASOVIC, BC UNICS head coach:

«In my opinion, we played a very good match today. In previous games, Astana proved that it is a tough opponent. They have a talent in attack and know how to score. Astana beat Pari Nizhny Novgorod on the road, Avtodor on its court and was close to a home victory over Zenit».

In such a serious tournament as the VTB United League, it is important to play from the defense. I think today we defended aggressively for three quarters. With the exception of some periods in the second quarter, when we made mistakes and allowed our opponents to score easy points. In any case, I am happy with the level of basketball that we showed today. Each of the players contributed to the victory».

Ismael BAKO, BC UNICS center:

«Today we have taken another step forward. The match with Astana proved once again that the VTB United League is a very competitive championship. We played very aggressively from the first minutes. I think everyone was on the same wave – they shared the ball, fought for rebound and showed their best qualities».

Oleg KISELEV, BC Astana head coach:

«I think we failed the first quarter. We played badly in defense both individually and against the pick-and-rolls of UNICS. Our plan for the match was completely different. We failed to stop the hosts' runs.

We started the third quarter well and tried to get back into the game. But UNICS punished us for the mistakes made after our comeback, and then did not let us get closer. Against such a team, making 3-4 mistakes in a row is like death. The opponent uses them and immediately creates a comfortable advantage for himself. Of course, we do not have such gaming resources as UNICS».