Reynolds' emotions, Vergun's ejection, and the announcement of a new player: UNICS ended the year with a victory

UNICS signed a new player, filling the last slot for a foreign player. They were waiting for him for the playoffs

After an exhausting match between UNICS and Moscow MBA-MAI, special attention is focused on the Kazan team. Despite victories over the middle-of-the-pack teams in the league, the previous confidence in their game is fading. It's not about the skill of the basketball players — that's fine. The problem lies in the personnel shortage: by the middle of the season, UNICS is losing players due to injuries. The «white and green» played against Moscow without five athletes, and Uralmash could have taken advantage of that.

However, to the regret of Uralmash head coach Rostislav Vergun, Andrey Lopatin and Mikhail Belenitsky managed to recover and returned to the court. They brought the team 13 points and 11 rebounds between them. Mikhail could have played more, but he received five fouls in the fourth quarter and went to the bench.

The solution to the problem of injured players for UNICS could be a new signing. The team still had a free slot for a foreign player, which, ideally, was saved for the playoffs. However, Velimir Perasovic announced that the club — following the recently arrived Alexey Shved — has already signed a new foreign player. The coach, however, did not reveal all the details, asking to wait for official information.

At the moment, Kazan still cannot count on Paris Lee and CJ Bryce, with the latter already out for the rest of the season. Also absent in the match against Uralmash was UNICS воспитанник Roman Ilyuk, whose participation could have provided additional rotation in the final minutes.

«Dishon Pierre showed how to fight for rebounds, how to use his strong body»

The salvation for Kazan in the game against Uralmash was the first quarter, which they completed with a 17:31 lead. Assistant head coach of the Ural team Sergey Vasilyev emphasized that UNICS immediately started «very tough, active, and with pressure». This aggression was provided by Andrey Lopatin, Marcus Bingham, and Dishon Pierre, whose passes led to scores twice in a row. Uralmash, apparently, failed to pull itself together for the last game of the year, and Rostislav Vergun called a timeout, demanding more space in attack from his players. Indeed, there was little space under the basket — a powerful block from center Jalen Reynolds, as well as Bingham and Dmitry Kulagin, effectively blocked the opponent's attempts to score points.

In the further course of the game, Kazan slowed down and started playing on an equal footing with their opponents, allowing them to gradually close the gap. The second quarter ended with a Uralmash victory with a score of 27:25, and UNICS did not win any of the subsequent quarters.

The end of the first half turned out in favor of the home team, which managed to improve their offensive game. It is curious that Octavius Ellis, who was too zealous in opposing UNICS' defense, earned his third foul in this quarter while attacking Jalen Reynolds. The final minutes were carried by the home team's legionnaires Javonte Douglas, Tyrell Nelson, and Isaiah Reese, as well as Russian player Igor Novikov. One might assume that this happened due to the fatigue of the Kazan leaders, who played almost without rest. However, assistant Vasilyev denied this:

«In the match against MBA-MAI, Belenitsky and Lopatin did not play, but today they were there. They were fresh. Dishon Pierre showed how to fight for rebounds, how to use his strong body».

The Ural team improved the ball movement in attack, making 24 assists compared to 16 by UNICS.

The third quarter was marked by a decrease in результативность, but the advantage in it was again on the side of the Ural team — 19:17. Here, Jalen Reynolds' game also intensified, as he committed a non-sporting foul, pushing Ivan Pynko with his forearm. Uralmash managed to expose the American in a not-so-good light in defense, which Perasovic confirmed after the match, calling Reynolds' game «unsuccessful», despite the 14 points he scored. By the end of the third quarter, UNICS had exhausted their team foul limit, and Uralmash reduced the gap to 11 points. After a timeout, Timofey Gerasimov's accurate three-pointer reduced the gap to minus 9.

In the final ten-minute period, Uralmash made an excellent comeback, fully finding their game. Isaiah Reese explained this by saying that the Ural team improved the ball movement in attack, making 24 assists compared to 16 by UNICS. According to him, «if we continue to move the ball in attack and minimize our mistakes in defense, we can expect a positive result in the future».

However, the key surge by the home team was stopped by Dishon Pierre, who updated his personal record for the efficiency coefficient in the tournament. The forward demonstrated an outstanding game, scoring 20 points, 13 rebounds, and 5 assists, which суммарно gave 32 efficiency points.

Three minutes before the final siren, in conditions of growing tension, although the game did not go into a clutch stage, Rostislav Vergun could not contain his emotions and got into a перепалку with the referees. This led to him receiving a second technical foul and being ejected from the court.

In the final quarter, Uralmash continued to dictate their terms, reducing the gap to 4 points. But the confident play of the Kazan leaders allowed them to maintain the advantage and stop the home team's comeback. The guests restored a comfortable lead and confidently brought the match to victory, hitting the 100-point mark for the sixth time in the season thanks to two accurate free throws by Dmitry Kulagin.

Match statistics:

Uralmash — UNICS — 91:100 (17:31, 27:25, 19:17, 28:27).
Kazan leaders: Bingham (21 + 10 rebounds), Pierre (20 + 13 rebounds + 5 assists), Kulagin (15), Reynolds (14), Shved (12).
Uralmash leaders: Nelson (22), Gerasimov (20), Reese (15 + 7 assists), Dalton (11 + 5 rebounds).
The next game for Kazan will also be an away game against Lokomotiv-Kuban on January 4. The match will start at 16:30 Moscow time. UNICS will return to their home court on January 18, playing against MBA-MAI.