UNICS beat PARMA at home – 69:51 (16:16, 22:20, 11:11, 20:4).
Top scorers
UNICS: Jamar Smith (17), John Brown III (11), John Holland (7 + 6 rebounds).
PARMA: Eigirdas Zukauskas (9), Mareks Mejeris (8 + 8 rebounds), Maxim Grigoryev (8 + 5 rebounds).
Story
If PARMA (10-13) clinched the first franchise play-offs last game, then UNICS (16-5) continue to fight for the second place of the regular season.
Perm in the first half had the initiative and were more likely to take the lead, although Kazan kept close to their opponents and even periodically pulled ahead. PARMA converted 12 of 15 2-points and 59% from the field, they were ahead of the hosts in rebounds and assists. The problem of Ural was the small number and poor percentage of free throws, as well as turnovers – 12 versus 4. As a result, through the efforts of John Brown Kazan organized a small run 9:4 in the last minutes of the second quarter and went on a big break as leaders – 38:36.
In the third, the game remained tight, by the final quarter the situation was the same – 49:47.
In the first 4 minutes of the final quarter, the teams were not distinguished by high scoring – a mini 6:0 run UNICS. Soon, Gleb Sheiko hit a three, but Kazan continued not only to dominate in defense, but also got hotter on the other side of the court.
Key moment
Sheiko’s three was answered with 10:0 run with two and a half minutes left, Brown, Nate Walters and Okaro White contributed – 65:60. Kazan, who looked confidently in defense, then brought the matter to victory and retained the 2nd place in the standings. PARMA finished its performance in the regular season.
Hero
Jamar Smith. In 24 minutes on the court UNICS captain hit 5/11 from the field and became the top scorer of the game – 17 points.
Stat
4 – number of points scored by Perm in the fourth quarter.
Comments
UNICS head coach Dimitrios Priftis:
– Congratulations to the players on another victory. Now we need to focus on the next games that are coming up in the near future. The next game against Enisey is already on Thursday, and tomorrow morning we are leaving for Krasnoyarsk. We have to be serious and play with the right attitude towards the opponent.
PARMA head coach Kazys Maksvytis:
– I think we didn’t deserve such a big defeat – for 3 quarters we played with UNICS on a par. In this game we also were solving our problems: Adas Juskevicius and Lorenzo Williams did not play, they have minor injuries and we take care of them. Our offense killed us tonight, because in the last quarter we scored only four points. Probably, we must pay tribute to the defense of UNICS. For the most part I am happy with my team, we had a very good sparring before the Final Four of the FIBA Europe Cup.
Next
UNICS: April 22 at Enisey
PARMA: –
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