We beat MBA and continue the winning move

Main team news

23.01.2024

UNICS confirmed the status of the favorite in the away match against the capital's MBA. The hosts' efforts to impose a fight on the reigning VTB United League champion were only enough for the first quarter. Already at the junction of the periods, Kazan tightly took the threads of the game into their own hands, running away to «+8» after Erick GREEN's free throws in the middle of the second ten minutes (36:28).

After a long break, our guys continued to build up the advantage, which reached «+19» after an accurate three-point shot by the same guard of the guests at the start of the fourth quarter (73:54). The end of the match was set by Vladislav ODINOKOV's and one, that recorded the maximum «+23» for Velimir PERASOVIC's team – 85:62. In addition, the Kazan team closed the perimeter to the opponent, allowing them only 4 accurate attempts out of 27 shots from long range (14%).

Jalen REYNOLDS (19) and Marcos KNIGHT (13 + 5 rebounds + 5 assists) became the most productive members of UNICS. Ismael BAKO has 12 points, 7 rebounds and 3 steals. Erick GREEN brought 11 points and 2 rebounds to the team.

MBA (Moscow) – UNICS (Kazan) – 62:85 (22:25, 17:21, 13:16, 10:20).
MBA: Minchenko (13+6 rebounds), Lopatin (13), Trushkin (10+4 rebounds), Khomenko (8+4 rebounds).
UNICS: Reynolds (19), Knight (13+5 rebounds+5 assists+2 steals), Bako (12+7 rebounds+3 steals), Labeyrie (8+6 rebounds), Kulagin (8+5 rebounds+4 assists), Dimitrijevic (7+3 assists).

POST-MATCH COMMENTS:

Velimir PERASOVIC, BC UNICS head coach:

«It was an important match for us, which we wanted to win. The team started well offensively, but I can't say the same about the defensive actions: mostly in the first quarter we conceded a lot of easy points. Fortunately, during the game, UNICS managed to find its rhythm and looked much more solid in the second half of the game, thanks to that we were able to win».