We lose the board and concede to CSKA in the battle of the VTB United League leaders

Main team news

23.11.2023

In the absence of Marcos Knight due to illness, Kazan UNICS suffered a home defeat against VTB United League leader CSKA Moscow with a score of 66:79, retaining second place in the table. The most productive member of the hosts was Neno Dimitrijevic, who scored a double-double of 16 points and 10 assists.

The key to the victory of CSKA was their superiority under the baskets – 42 against 26 in rebounds. By the half time, CSKA managed to achieve a double-digit lead (30:41). The key was the spurt of our opponents 12:0 in the third quarter, which allowed them to break away to the maximum «+18» (41:59) 1:48 before the last quarter. Kazan managed to half the gap to «-9» 2 minutes before the final siren. But the leader of the championship did not allow to achieve more this evening – 66:79 is the third defeat of UNICS this season.

VTB United League. Regular season.
UNICS (Kazan) – CSKA (Moscow) – 66:79 (21:23, 9:18, 18:20, 18:18).
UNICS: Dimitrijevic (16 + 10 assists), Kulagin (14), Green (11 + 5 rebounds + 3 assists), Reynolds (8 + 6 rebounds), Labeyrie (7 + 7 rebounds), Bako (6 + 5 rebounds), Komolov (4).
CSKA: M'Baye (17 + 6 rebounds + 3 assists), Jekiri (14 + 6 rebounds), Trimble (13 + 6 assists + 4 rebounds), Jean-Charles (12 + 5 rebounds + 3 assists).

The next match Velimir Perasovic's team will again play at home against the Moscow MBA. The game will take place at the Basket Hall on Sunday, November 26.

POST-MATCH COMMENTS:

Velimir PERASOVIC, BC UNICS head coach:

«First of all, congratulations to CSKA. Today they were better than us from the beginning to the end of the match. In the second quarter, they managed to break the game in their favor. After a half time, we tried to come back, but we could not act flexibly and find a way to easily score points. The opponents defended very well and outperformed us physically, especially in aggressiveness and rebounds. We could not react in the right way and play better».