UNICS defeated MBA-MAI at home and leads series 1:0 – 87:62 (23:22, 25:11, 21:13, 18:16).
Game progress
The Moscow team started well, but was only able to keep pace for one and a half quarters. That’s when the Kazan team start to scow dominance in rebounding, offense, aggressiveness and player skill. All of this resulted in a 19-0 run over 5 minutes, led primarily by Jalen Reynolds and Mikhail Belenitskii. UNICS went into halftime with a 15-point lead.
After the break, MBA-MAI tried to mount a comeback, but Reynolds’s stopped the guests. The center scored 7 points in 2 minutes. UNICS pulled ahead by 20 points and controlled the game till teh end.
X-Factor
MBA-MAI finished the regular season as the most fouling team in the League, averaging 25.6 fouls per game. Today, the Moscow team again committed frequent fouls, which was reflected in free-throw attempts: 24 of 28 by UNICS and 6 of 7 by the guests.
Facts
UNICS remains undefeated against MBA-MAI – fifth win of the season and 15-0 all-time.
Mikhail Belenitskii recorded his first career double-double—15 points and 12 rebounds.
UNICS signed Mikhail Kulagin ahead of the Playoffs. Brothers Mikhail and Dmitry Kulagin played together today for the first time since 2017.
The teams tied the score 6 times in the first half, while the hosts led throughout the second.
Leaders
UNICS: Jalen Reynolds (24), Mikhail Belenitskii (15 + 12 rebounds), Marcus Bingham (13 + 8 rebounds)
MBA-MAI: Maksim Barashkov (13), Aleksandr Platunov (11)
What’s next
April 28 in Kazan.
