By Eurohoops team / info@eurohoops.net
On Sunday VTB action, Unics survived a tough VEF Riga in Kazan with 89-84, improving to 6-1 in the league.
In the first period, Keith Langford led the hosts, yet VEF was persistent and stayed close after the first 10 minutes, 19-18. Unics was steadily ahead, though the Latvian team was able stay close with long range shots. The Russian team had a 43-38 lead at halftime.
Langford gave his team a double digit advantage for the first time in the game at 24′, when Unics was leading 52-41, then Kostas Kaimakoglou pushed the deficit to 13 points for the hosts. VEF’s answer was quick, as Janis Blums almost took it… personally dominated his personal oppenents in the last 5 minutes of the third period. Tough as nails, VEF was down by 4 after 30 minutes, 65-61.
The game almost turned into an upset for the Russian team, as the visitors’ Martins Meiers made it a 1-point game with 42 seconds left. However, Banic and Langford sealed the win in the end.
For the winners, Joaquin Colom and Kostas Kaimakoglou shared 24 points, while for VEF Meiers had 21 and Blums added 20.
Avtodor (1-6) 79-88 Lokomotiv Kuban (4-2) (Collins 25)
UNICS (6-1) 89-84 VEF (3-3)
Parma (0-6) 61-67 Τsmoki-Minsk (3-4) (Andjusic 21)
Astana (3-3) 98-97 Enisey (3-4) (Lowery 27)
Khimki (4-1) 90-84 Nizhny Novgorod (1-6) (Vene 23)