UNICS defeated Zenit in WINLINE Game of the Week at home – 88:75 (23:14, 23:34, 19:12, 23:15).
Game progress
The hosts got off to a flying start. Midway through the first quarter, the Kazan team lead reached double digits – 16:5. At the start of the second quarter, the guests scored 15 points and took the lead for the first time in the game – 32:30. In the time remaining before the big break, the lead changed 6 times. But the last word still belonged to the St. Petersburg team. Noah Vonleh helped Zenit to maintain a small lead – 48:46.
Key moment
During the third quarter, the Kazan team took the initiative. But the hosts made decisive run in the final quarter. Marcus Bingham and Jalen Reynolds’ brilliant play laid the foundation for the hosts’ 9-point run, after which the lead became double digits – 76:65. In the remaining time, the guests tried to get back into the game, but efforts were not enough. UNICS beat Zenit for the second time this season and retained second place in the standings.
X-factor
As usual, Marcus Bingham and Jalen Reynolds looked very impressive for UNICS. But the hidden hero was Dyshawn Pierre. The forward had his best game of the season. In 33 minutes, he made 10 of 15 field-goals, scored 24 points, and became the most efficient player of the game (26).
Facts
UNICS has not lost at home in regular season games for over a year – the winning streak now stands at 22 games. This is the second-longest active streak in Europe (after Real Madrid’s 26 wins in Spain) and the second-longest streak in VTB League history (after Khimki’s 30 wins from October 2012 to April 2015).
Velimir Perasovic has caught up with Rimas Kurtinaitis (Khimki) in number of games with one team – both coaches have 195 games. Only Xavier Pascual (Zenit, 218 games), Dimitris Itoudis (CSKA, 263 games) and Zoran Lukic (NN, 268 games) have more.
Leaders
UNICS: Dyshawn Pierre (24), Marcus Bingham (19 + 12 rebounds), Jalen Reynolds (16 + 7 rebounds), Andrey Lopatin (16), Alexey Shved (8 + 10 assists)
Zenit: Luka Samanic (20 + 5 rebounds), Trent Frazier (19), Noah Vonleh (10 + 8 rebounds)
What’s next
UNICS: December 24 on the road against MBA-MAI
Zenit: January 4 on the road versus BETCITY PARMA.
