By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
Unics Kazan and CSKA Moscow players were involved in a scuffle following the game VTB League game between the two teams.
In the last play of the match and with Unics up 81 – 73, Kazan guard Anton Ponkrashov drove to the basket and scored a layup. According to the video, CSKA players Sergio Rodriguez and Kyle Hines moved towards Ponkrashov after he made the play. Hines pushed the Russian player (it’s not visible if Ponkrashov said something that sparked Hines’ reaction) and then other players, like Unics’ Maurice N’ Dour, were involved.
Coaches, members of the technical staff and even executives (CSKA’s president Andrey Vatutin) interfered to calm things.
According to Ponkrashov, he attacked the basket because he thought Cory Higgins would try to steal the ball from him. “I asked him, we play or just finish the game. And he told me: ‘We will see’. This caused me to react and went to attack the basket. It was a defensive reaction, not a decision toprove something to someone. I respect Higgins and the entire CSKA team. If someone was offended by my move, I apologize,” Ponkrashov said per Match.