By Eurohoops team / info@eurohoops.net
Maccabi grabbed a thrilling win over Unics in Kazan with 73-74 and improved to 4-4, marking its second straight win. The Russian club now stands at 2-6.
The Israeli team stepped into the game with accelerating speed from Tuesday’s win over Fenerbahce, yet Unics wanted to defend its homecourt at all costs. A very competitive game was set to happen right from the first period, during which the visitors hurt the Russian team from the 3-point line. After the first quarter the score was 17-25. In the second period, the hosts also took the ball out in the perimeter and soon managed to cover the small deficit. However, Maccabi kept a short lead at halftime, 38-41.
In the third period, both teams faced each other head to head, with Unics threatening Maccabi, though the latter kept having a short lead throughout it. Pavel Antipov made it a 2-point game for Unics at 26′ and the score after 30 minutes was 54-61.
Keith Langford was the man for Unics in the final period, keeping it alive with long range shots and tying the score twice, though Sonny Weems hurt the Russian team in the end.
Devin Smith led the winners with 16 points, 6 rebounds, Colton Iverson followed with 12 points and 6 rebounds as well. Langford‘s 22 points weren’t enough to give Unics the win.