UNICS Kazan defeated Parma Perm in overtime, 105-98 (19-23, 23-21, 24-21, 26-27, 6-13).
Top Scorers
Parma: Danilo Andjusic (40+6 reb+5 ast), Alexander Vinnik (14+9 reb), Konstantin Bulanov (14), Sergei Chernov (11+7 ast)
UNICS: Orlando Johnson (34+6 reb), Quino Colom (20+8 reb+12 ast), Kostas Kaimakoglou (19+3 stl), Artsiom Parakhouski (15)
Intro
After two grueling wins in the Euroleague, Evgeny Pashutin decided to rest leading scorer Keith Langford and give Orlando Johnson the start.
Johnson delivered, putting up 28 points in the regulation, but on defense, Kazan struggled to contain the home team.
Led by Danilo Andjusic’s career night, Parma held a two-point advantage at halftime and only trailed by one entering the 4th quarter.
Turning Point I
Hoping to avoid becoming 0-10 Parma’s first victim in League competition, UNICS went up as many as eight points in the 4th.
But Andjusic and Alexander Vinnik refused to quit, combining for 16 points to bring the home team within two, 89-87, with less than two minutes to go.
After some back-and-forth, regulation came down to free throws. Trailing 92-91, Andjusic drew a foul with eight seconds remaining. He made the first, but missed the second.
UNICS’s Quino Colom grabbed the rebound and raced the other direction, getting fouled by Konstantin Bulanov. With two chances to win, Colom missed both, sending the game to overtime.
Turning Point II
Overtime stayed close until the final minute. After Orlando Johnson put Kazan on top, 97-96, at the line, Andjusic had a chance to give Parma the lead and set a new League scoring record (he finished with 40), but his 3-pointer was off the mark. On the next possession, Kostas Kaimakoglou drained a ‘3’ for UNICS, stretching the lead to four.
That would be it for the home team. Johnson converted five of six free throws down the stretch to ice the win, helping UNICS improve to a league-best 10-1, while Parma drops to 0-11.
Stars
Danilo Andjusic (40) and Orlando Johnson (34).
Despite the loss, Parma’s Serbian guard put together an all-time performance. Andjusic scored 40 points on 13-17 shooting (6-7 from beyond the arc) to go with six rebounds, five assists, two steals and a 46 efficiency rating.
Johnson, meanwhile, dropped 34 on 10-17 shooting and drained huge free throws down the stretch to preserve Kazan’s win.
Quotes
Parma head coach Viacheslav Shushakov:
– I told the team thank you in the locker room just now. The game depends on the little things and we didn’t quite come through, unfortunately. Colom gave us a chance at the end by missing two free throws, but we didn’t take advantage. I want to thank the fans for still supporting the team after the game with applause. Happy New Year to everyone!
UNICS head coach Evgeny Pashutin:
– I want to congratulate the team on Christmas, since we have a lot of players from Europe. It was tough mentally to play today and celebrate the holiday far from family. That’s why I told the guys that we need to win to make it a better holiday. We expected it would be a tough game with a lot of physicality and contact. That’s what happened. We had a poor start and let Andjusic score 21 points in 20 minutes. But we made adjustments in the locker room and started playing differently on defense. We weren’t able to be effective on offense today. We’d like to play better, more attractive offense, but winning is much more important in the end. Happy holidays to everyone!
Up Next
Parma: January 7 vs. Avtodor
UNICS: January 8 at Lokomotiv-Kuban
