Unics Kazan advances to VTB League semi-finals

Russian team UNICS Kazan beat Zielona Gora from Poland (90-79) in game two of the VTB League quarterfinals and advances to the semi-finals.

UNICS Kazan took the lead from the start, but the Poles seized momentum quickly. They managed to impose their style of play on UNICS Kazan. With three-pointers, Zielona Gora’s stood its ground in the first 10 minutes.

Zielona Gora converted five of seven three-point shots. Consequently, coach Zan Tabak’s team, for the first time in the series, scored more than 20 points in one quarter and won the first quarter with 25:24.

But UNICS’s defense adapted midway through the second quarter. They became more aggressive on the perimeter and shut down their opponent’s shooters in the first six minutes. As a result, Zielona Gora attempted only one single field goal. However, UNICS’s offense also struggled. Still, thanks to their solid defense, the Russians regained the lead at halftime 39-37.

At the beginning of the third quarter, Okaro White, John Holland, and John Brown combined for seven points, giving UNICS Kazan its first double-digit lead of the game, 47-37. Zielona Gora was one step away from collapse when veterans Lukasz Koszarek, Rolands Freimanis, and David Brembly stepped up. Together they scored 17 of the team’s 19 points in the second quarter and kept the hope alive for the Polish club,

Nevertheless, UNICS Kazan maintained a double-digit lead throughout the final quarter and pulled out another convincing win. The Russian club advanced to the VTB League semifinals, where their opponent will be Lokomotiv-Kuban of Krasnodar.