We open the score in the quarterfinal series

Main team news

23.04.2024

UNICS confidently opens the door to the playoffs, beating Samara in the first match of the quarterfinals (83:73) and leading the series to 3 wins.

The key was the 14-1 third quarter segment, which capped Marcos KNIGHT's alley-oop on Ismael BAKO at 54:41. At the end of the ten–minute period, after Jalen REYNOLDS' free throws, our team's advantage was «+16» - 64:48, and in the opening of the final period, a throw from behind the arc from Andrei VORONTSEVICH increased the handicap of the hosts to a maximum of 17 points – 67:50.

In the final quarter, the guests twice managed to reduce the gap to «-8», but UNICS did not allow the debutants of the playoff series to do more this evening, bringing the game to victory with a double-digit difference – 83:73 without nerves.

The main sniper in the winning team was Erick GREEN, who shot 20 points into the opponents' basket. Ismael BAKO has 18 points, 4 rebounds and 4 blocked shots.

A personal record in assists was set by Neno DIMITRIJEVIC, who gave 15 assists and added 11 points to them. Marcos KNIGHT, who returned from injury, collected of 10 points, 3 rebounds, 3 assists and 3 steals.

UNICS (Kazan) – Samara (Samara region) – 83:73 (17:16, 23:18, 24:16, 19:23).
UNICS: Green (20), Bako (18 + 4 rebounds), Dimitrijevic (11 + 15 assists), Knight (10 + 3 rebounds + 3 assists + 3 steals), Reynolds (9 + 6 rebounds).
Samara: Thompson (13 + 7 rebounds + 2 assists), Hawkins (12 + 3 assists + 2 rebounds), Roberson (11 + 5 assists + 3 rebounds), Rebic (10).

The second quarterfinal match of the team will be held on Thursday, April 25.

POST-MATCH COMMENTS:

Velimir PERASOVIC, BC UNICS head coach:

«The first match of the playoffs is always difficult, especially if you are the winner of the regular season. We played against a good team with an excellent foreign players and led by a good coach.

I would like to note that the opponents are in good shape, because they played more games in the second stage. While 10 days have passed since our last match with CSKA, this is rather long break.

In my opinion, we didn't play our best game today. UNICS committed 17 losses and allowed Samara to pick up 13 rebounds on offense. However, even with such figures, we have not experienced serious problems with the result of the game in our favor, which is a good sign. So, I'm optimistic».

Drazen ANZULOVIC, BC Samara head coach:

«Congratulations to UNICS on the victory. At the same time, I want to praise my team for their efforts. Today we had chances to catch on to the game. Unfortunately, however, we did not use them.

The key reasons for our defeat were problems with the organization and a large number of mistakes. At the end of the first quarter and during the second ten minutes, we missed the ball five times in a row. According to the results of the first half, Samara made 10 losses and 17 – according to the results of the match. In addition, the subsequent disorganization in the third quarter did not allow us to count on success».