UNICS beat Zenit in the Game of the Week on the road – 93:83 (29:26, 22:18, 21:18, 21:21)
Game progress
The first quarter had a lot of lead changes. Nenad Dimitrijevic and Jalen Reynolds put together an 8:0 run that allowed the guests to take the lead. Scoring in the paint helped UNICS led by 7-9 points throughout the first half.
In the third quarter, Zenit tried to reply with long-range shots, but the St. Petersburg team sharpshooters lost their aim, while Marcos Knight and the much-improved Ismael Bako steadily scored points. That allowed the guests to have a double-digit lead – 69:59.
Key moment
The start of the final quarter was discouraging for UNICS. 7 straight points by Sergey Karasev and the Kazan team’s lead almost melted away. A short time later, Trent Frazier made another three-pointer to equalize the score – 74:74!
Right after that, Vince Hunter put Zenit ahead with free-throws. But Louis Labeyrie, Knight and Reynolds made shots almost ruined Zenit hopes of a clutch. Zenit still managed to get within 3 points, but after a timeout by Velimir Perasovic, the Kazan team played good defense, Dimitrijevic and Knight set the final score of the game, bringing UNICS back trailing by 10. The Kazan team extend the winning streak to 3 games.
X-factor
Ismael Bako showed himself as one of the team’s leaders. Although Jalen Reynolds was not scoring a lot this game, the Belgian bigman made 16 points and 7 rebounds in just 20 minutes.
Fact
Dmitry Kulagin and Vince Hunter played for the opposite teams last season. Hunter won the duel with 19 points, but Dmitry Kulagin had one of his best games of the season, successfully playing both offense and defense.
Leaders
Zenit: Vince Hunter (19), Kyle Kuric (16), Trent Frazier (15 + 8 assists), Andrey Zubkov (9 + 7 rebounds).
UNICS: Marcos Knight (22 + 6 rebounds + 4 steals), Ismael Bako (16 + 7 rebounds), Nenad Dimitrijevic (16 + 6 rebounds + 7 assists), Dmitry Kulagin (13 + 5 assists), Louis Labeyrie (12 + 5 rebounds).
What’s next
Zenit: November 8 at home versus PARMA
UNICS: November 9 at home against Runa.
