In the battle of the leaders, UNICS is stronger than CSKA!

Main team news

04.02.2024

UNICS wins its 20th anniversary victory on the floor of Moscow Megasport, beated CSKA with a double-digit advantage in the main match of the week (83:73), closing the first stage of the regular season.

The opening ten minutes of the game were held in a tense struggle with four score equalities. A two-minute interval at the end of the second quarter, which was crowned by a «three» from the corner from WARE, created a 10-point advantage for the most titled club in the country (42:32). However, after a long break, the reigning VTB United League champion reached its capacity, discouraging the hosts with a spurt 14:6 in 3 and a half minutes of the third quarter.

In the final period, the guys from the capital of Tatarstan continued to build up their leadership, which reached the maximum «+13» after a shoot of Neno DIMITRIJEVIC (81:68).

An outstanding match was played by UNICS guard Dmitry KULAGIN, who set a personal record for performance in the tournament (27 points (9/12 field goal attempts, 6/8 three-pointers), with the best coefficient of useful actions in both teams (33).

The Macedonian guard Neno DIMITRIJEVIC gave out diverse statistics of 17 points, 9 assists, 7 rebounds and 3 steals. Louis LABEYRIE brought 15 more points and 7 rebounds to the team. Erick GREEN scored 11 points.

CSKA Moscow – UNICS (Kazan) – 73:83 (22:20, 20:14, 17:28, 14:21).
CSKA: Ware (16 + 2 assists + 2 rebounds), Trimble (15 + 3 assists + 2 rebounds), Jean-Charles (14 + 4 rebounds), M'Baye (12 + 3 assists + 2 rebounds).
UNICS: Kulagin (27 + 3 rebounds), Dimitrijevic (17 + 7 rebounds + 9 assists + 3 steals), Labeyrie (15 + 7 rebounds), Green (11 + 2 steals), Knight (6 + 4 assists + 3 rebounds), Reynolds (4), Bako (3 + 5 rebounds).

Kazan will play their first match of the second stage of the regular season on the court of the Basket Hall on Saturday, February 10, against Enisey from Krasnoyarsk.

POST-MATCH COMMENTS:

Velimir PERASOVIC, BC UNICS head coach:

«Of course, this is an important victory for us against a club with a great history and the leader of the VTB United League. We have shown that we can fight against CSKA. During the season, UNICS faced unfortunate moments, but the most important thing is in what condition the team will approach the final segments of the championship – the Top 6 and the playoffs. I repeat, this victory is extremely important for us, especially before the second stage».

Dmitry KULAGIN, BC UNICS guard:

«Today we won a very difficult and important victory for us. UNICS rehabilitated itself for the home defeat of CSKA in the first round and finished the first stage of the regular season on a positive note. It's always nice to win, especially with the stands full. I would like to mention the landing of our fans who were with us today. They actively supported us. We heard them. Ultimately, we are playing for the fans.

At this stage, it is important to build up the advantage step by step in all areas of the court, to gain a rhythm in order to follow our goal – to defend the title of champions. We are moving in this direction».

Emil RAJKOVIC, PBK CSKA head coach:

«In the first half, we played good basketball, defended aggressively and controlled the board. In the third quarter, we immediately made a couple of losses and showed not the same level of effort. We probably thought that victory was in our pocket. But UNICS didn't think so, especially Kulagin, who hit difficult balls. We conceded 28 points in the third quarter, we should have reacted, moved the ball better, played as a team, but instead we overstayed the ball, slipped into individual actions, and this led to this result. Congratulations to UNICS, they were better in the second half and deserved this victory».

Ilona KORSTIN, VTB United League CEO:

«In fact, Dmitry Kulagin's contributed a lot in the victory of UNICS. He gave out a supermatch, scoring 27 points. This is a record in his career. We even joked in the United League that he reacted with such a gorgeous game to the invitation to the VTB United League All-Star Game. But, no kidding, I hope that this invitation inspired him in the last match. Dmitry had a phenomenal hit percentage today. It was he who turned the game around when he had a series of long-range hits, and CSKA did not find a way to stop him. The match was quite dynamic, we saw fast attacks and a lot of beautiful moments».