Belenitsky's Flight and Pierre's Redemption: UNICS Kicked Off 2026 with a Win over Loko in Front of the Rookie
We tell you what signing Brewer will give to Kazan and what role the American will play in Perasovich's system.
UNICS kicked off the year with a «paradoxical» victory over Lokomotiv-Kuban, as described by head coach Velimir Perasovich. The lead changed hands 18 times, but the score remained in favour of the guests — 77:81. This game was a prelude to the debut of the club's newcomer, Tyrone Brewer, who is set to replace the injured CJ Brys. The American has already arrived in Krasnodar with the team and watched the game of his future teammates from the sidelines. What could he see — in the «Realnoe Vremya» material.
The player's contract is valid until the end of the current season.
In the afternoon, UNICS decided to reveal its new player. Rumours about the signing of Ty Brewer had been circulating for a long time, and at the end of December, Perasovich confirmed that the team had filled the sixth slot for a foreign player. However, at that time, he did not reveal the name, asking to wait for official information.
Fans found out who would replace CJ Brys a little earlier than the official announcement due to a mistake on the club's website. Vigilant Telegram channels managed to capture the appearance of the new player's profile before it was deleted. Today, all formalities have been settled: the 25-year-old American Tyrone Brewer has officially become a player of the Kazan team. His contract is valid until summer 2026.
He was brought in to replace CJ Brys, who was out for the rest of the season after playing only eight games. Before the move, Brewer played for Chemnitz in the current Bundesliga season, averaging 13 points and 3.5 rebounds per game. In the European arena, in the framework of the Eurocup, the American's statistics were a bit more modest — about 8.5 points and 3.7 rebounds.
He started his journey in college basketball, playing for the Lions of the University of Southeast Louisiana. Despite balancing between studying and sports, the modest status of the program — only one participation in the NCAA in 2005 — limited the player's chances of getting into top conferences or the NBA draft. Striving for professional growth, in 2020, Brewer moved to a team in Tennessee. The change of environment benefited him: Ty established himself as a versatile player with excellent rebounding and an accurate long-range shot. His average stats were 14.9 points and 7.7 rebounds per game. His older brother, Ledarius Brewer, also played for this team.
The head coach of Chemnitz, Rodrigo Pastore, called versatility in defence the key quality of the player. According to the coach, Ty is able to cover almost any position, which is important for the club after defensive failures in the previous season.
In addition to defensive skills, Pastore valued Brewer's work ethic: «Ty has a powerful engine, he is a real hard worker and always gives his all». The coach noted that the forward is not only effective in finishing attacks (both from a distance and from under the basket), but also is not afraid to do the «dirty work». The signing of Brewer was supposed to help Chemnitz avoid repeating past failures — an early exit from the Champions League and defeat in the Bundesliga quarter-finals.
In the VTB United League, Brewer will meet faces familiar from the German championship. Among the former Bundesliga players performing in Russia are Jalen Reynolds (ex-Bavaria), Paris Lee (ex-Bamberg), CJ Brys (ex-Würzburg) and Dishon Pierre (ex-Braunschweig).
No accurate three-pointers in the first 10 minutes
But back to the match that Brewer watched from the sidelines. Lokomotiv is one of UNICS's oldest rivals. The history of their confrontations includes several playoff series, most of which ended in favour of the Kazan team.
The past match was a moment of truth for Dishon Pierre: the Canadian managed not only to реабилитироваться but to completely silence the critics after a неудачная game against Krasnodar. If last time, in 19 minutes on the court, Dishon did not score a single point, missing all three shots, in this match, he surpassed himself. The result of his dominance was the third double-double of the season — 15 points and 15 rebounds.
The match started with an equal fight: in the first half, the lead changed from one team to another 16 times. The game turned into a confrontation between «big» and «fast» players. In these conditions, Jeremiah Martin came to the fore for Lokomotiv — in the opening quarter, he scored seven points, breaking through the «wall» in the face of Andrey Lopatin and Marcus Bingham time after time. It is noteworthy that in the first 10 minutes, long-range shooting did not work for either team — no accurate three-pointers. Against the background of general tension, Reynolds also got nervous, committing a series of turnovers and travelling.
The second quarter opened with an accurate three-pointer by Alexey Shved. Following this, former Kazan player Vince Hunter, defending against the «big» players of his former team, quickly accumulated three personal fouls. The fight for the initiative intensified: in the second 10 minutes, the lead changed from one side to the other eight times. In this segment, Mikhail Belenitsky stood out — after a pass from Reynolds, he slammed in an impressive dunk over the young Vsevolod Ishchenko. However, the Loko defender did not shy away and immediately responded with a powerful drive through the defence. Krasnodar clearly feared the effectiveness of Pierre and Shved, trying to stop them even at the cost of fouls.
Provided by the press service of the UNICS basketball club
In the third quarter, Mikhail Belenitsky delivered a powerful game segment, but his ardour was cooled by the fourth foul — the forward repeated the unpleasant scenario of the match against Uralmash, once again facing the threat of being removed. At the same time, Dishon Pierre secured his next double-double, demonstrating good work on the boards: out of 15 rebounds, eight were collected defensively, and seven — offensively.
Capturing the lead at the beginning of the second half, the Kazan team maintained the distance for a long time. Lokomotiv managed to organize a chase only at the very end: with a minute and a half left before the final buzzer, Cashius Robertson equalized the score with an accurate shot — 77:77. However, the last word remained with the guests. Dmitry Kulagin made a crucial three-pointer, giving UNICS the lead again (80:77). Krasnodar had 21 seconds left to save the game, but Miller's decisive three-pointer was blocked. Dishon Pierre sealed the match by making a free throw and setting the final score — 81:77 in favour of Kazan.
Match statistics:
Lokomotiv-Kuban — UNICS — 77:81 (18:15, 28:31, 16:17, 15:18).
Leaders of Krasnodar: Hunter (18 + 7 rebounds), Martin (18), Miller (11 + 6 assists).
Leaders of Kazan: Kulagin (15 + 7 assists), Pierre (15 + 15 rebounds), Bingham (14 + 9 rebounds), Reynolds (13 + 7 rebounds).
UNICS will play its next match away: on January 10 at 16:00 MSK, the team will face Samara. The club will return to the home court in Kazan on January 18 to play against MBA-MAI, with the match scheduled to start at 18:00 MSK.