UNICS Russia defeated VEF Latvia at home, 89-74 (16-18, 30-11, 22-11, 21-34).
Top Scorers
UNICS: Errick McCollum (25), Jamar Smith (13), Trent Lockett (10 + 6 reb + 7 ast), Evgeny Kolesnikov (10)
VEF: Vincent Council (16 + 6 ast), Kristaps Janicenoks (16), Andrejs Grazulis (13 + 8 reb)
Story
The Tatar machine picked up a 4th-consecutive win at home, bouncing back from last week’s setback in Moscow Region with a comfortable 89-74 win over VEF.
Errick McCollum led the way with a red-hot 25 points on 10-11 shooting as UNICS outscored the visitors by 30 points during the 2nd and 3rd quarters.
VEF, which entered the game with a 1-4 record, actually led 18-16 at the end of the 1st quarter thanks to 11 points from Vincent Council.
With the game tied at 27-27 midway through the 2nd quarter, UNICS unleashed a 17-0 run, sparked by 10 points from McCollum in less than two minutes.
Kazan led 46-29 at halftime and continued to build its advantage in the 3rd quarter, going up by as much as 29.
VEF made the score respectable in the 4th, piling up 34 points in garbage time, but the outcome was never in doubt as UNICS rolled to its 4th win of the season.
Stat
27-4 – Kazan’s advantage in points off turnovers. VEF committed 10 more turnovers than UNICS and paid dearly for the mistakes.
Star
Errick McCollum. The American guard has shown a penchant for streaky scoring, taking over late in the win vs. Lokomotiv-Kuban, for example.
He unleashed his offensive arsenal again vs. VEF, breaking open a close game with 10 quick points late in the 2nd quarter. McCollum finished with 25 points on 10-11 shooting, including 3-4 from downtown.
Klimenko Crush
Артем Клименко крушит кольцо рижского ВЭФ 🔥
Artem Klimenko CRUSHES @vefriga RIM 🔥 pic.twitter.com/cr89ysbACy
— VTB United League (@VTBUL) November 4, 2018
Quotes
UNICS head coach Dimitris Priftis: “We played serious for three quarters. Everyone got playing time. I’m happy we won. Of course, I’d like the see the players be more serious, but a win is a win.”
VEF head coach Janis Gailitis: “We started and finished the game well, which can’t be said about the 2nd and 3rd quarters. We made a lot of mistakes on offense and Kazan punished us. We were missing another point guard. That’s one of the reasons we made so many mistakes on offense, which were used against us.”
Photos
