UNICS defeated Astana in the Kazakh capital, 84-68 (26-16, 19-19, 22-14, 17-19).
Top Scorers
Astana: Rod Odom (21 points + 5 rebounds), Rob Lowery (12 points), Ian Miller (10 points)
UNICS: Keith Langford (20 points), Quino Colom (15 points + 6 assists), Coty Clarke (13 points + 13 rebounds), Artsiom Parakhouski (13 points + 6 rebounds)
Turning Point
UNICS grabbed a 10-point lead in the first half as the visitors used their size to punish Astana in the paint. Artsiom Parakhouski was especially effective.
Astana’s duo of Rod Odom and Rob Lowery tried to mount a comeback, but the visitors controlled the tempo and never let the home team threaten in the second half.
Stat
13+13 – UNICS forward Coty Clarke recorded the first double-double of the season.
Quotes
Astana head coach Ilias Papatheodorou:
– We knew that today would be tough. Two teams with very different goals in the League met on the court. But we were very motivated and ready to compete. Of course, we have some problems on offense. Now we need to recover before an important game against CSKA.
UNICS head coach Evgeny Pashutin:
– Congratulations to my team on the win. Astana has a very aggressive, athletic, and stubborn team this season. They use different types of defense and use an active press. We tried to adapt in the first two quarters, but found the keys to victory in the 3rd quarter by playing better defense and controlling the ball. At the same time, we are far from our best. There’s a lot of work to do.
Snapshot
