UNICS Russia defeated VEF Latvia at home, 89-81 (24-20, 26-27, 19-20, 20-14).
Top Scorers
UNICS: Quino Colom (18 + 5 reb + 8 ast), Jamar Smith (16 + 5 ast), Maurice Ndour (13 + 5 reb), Melvin Ejim (13 + 5 reb)
VEF: Kaspars Berzins (29 + 6 reb), Paul Carter (19 + 6 reb), Ken Brown (14)
Story
The visitors made it clear from the opening tip that UNICS would not coast to victory. Kaspars Berzins dropped 11 in the opening period, helping VEF stay within four points.
Thanks to a barrage of 3-pointers, Riga was able to cut the deficit to three, 50-47, at halftime. The game stayed close for much of the second half as VEF even took a brief 63-60 lead late in the 3rd quarter.
Turning Point
Kazan finally took control midway through the 4th quarter. Berzins, who finished with a game-high 29 points, knocked down a three to make it a one-point game, 75-74. UNICS responded with an 8-0 run, highlighted by four points from Maurice Ndour.
VEF worked hard to close the deficit, but couldn’t get enough shots to drop, ultimately losing by eight in the Tatar capital.
UNICS picks up the win and remains in contention for the League’s top seed. VEF falls out of a three-way tie for 8th place into 10th.
Star
Quino Colom. The Spaniard had an excellent stat line (18 points, five rebounds, eight assists) and played a big part in putting the game away down the stretch. Two steals and two fast-break finishes squashed VEF’s comeback hopes.
Quotes
UNICS head coach Dimitris Priftis:
– This was a tough game, like any game in the VTB United League. VEF played very well. Like I’ve said before, they have some wonderful players who are only getting better. The Latvians are great rebounders and use different options to score. We had big issues on the offensive glass. We didn’t have much success in the facet of the game until the final five minutes, which was huge. We were also very poor on defense against pick-and-pops with Berzins. He had a lot of open looks. But in the second half we stopped him. Berzins scored 23 in the first half, but only six in the second.
VEF head coach Janis Gailitis:
– I liked how we played today. We battled and had good energy. But we made a lot of mistakes, missed shots and were outplayed in some small facets of the game. Every little detail is important, though, which is why we lost today.
Up Next
UNICS: April 15 home vs. Astana
VEF: April 22 away vs. Avtodor
Images of the Game
