«Astana» Astana, Kazakhstan vs. UNICS Kazan, Russia

Astana (Kazakhstan) defeated UNICS (Russia) at home, 87-67. The Yellow-Blues played catch-up for 30 minutes, before outscoring Kazan by 21 points in the 4th quarter to run away with victory. Astana trails VEF by half a game for the final playoff spot.

Intro
Astana played Nizhny Novgorod close in its first game at the Zhastar Sports Complex last weekend. On Saturday, the Kazakh club welcomed another Russian contender, UNICS Kazan, to the Karaganda arena. Ramunas Butautas's men are battling for a playoff berth, while Kazan is trying to move up in the standings and earn a better playoff seed. Both teams were playing well entering this contest, heightening expectations for the game on the court.

Astana got off to a poor start. Keith Langford helped the visitors take a quick 7-0 lead, forcing Butautas to call a timeout. Coming out of the break, Astana did a much better job of feeding Luksa Andric and Rasid Mahalbasic and cut the deficit to a single point, 21-20, by the end of the quarter.

Neither team could get much momentum for most of the second period. But the first half ultimately ended the same way it started: with an UNICS run. Kazan started to pull away at the free-throw line, before Sergey Bykov knocked down a mid-range jumper at the end of the shot clock to give his team a 41-34 advantage.

Langford opened the 3rd quarter with a 3-pointer and D'or Fischer chipped in with another two points to make it a 12-point game. The home team didn't flinch. Nik Caner-Medley scored on a layup and converted a three-point play after a spectacular pass from Andric. 3-pointers from Jerry Johnson and Pavel Ilyin helped Astana reduce the deficit to one point, 57-56, entering the 4th quarter.

Turning Point
Pat Calathes gave Astana the lead a minute and a half into the 4th quarter by knocking down a 3-pointer. From that point on it was all Astana. The home team upped the tempo and stifled UNICS on defense to take complete control. Caner-Medly hit a couple of big shots, while another Calathes '3' put the Kazakhs on top, 67-59, with just over six to play. Astana ended up winning the game by 20 and moves into 9th place in the league.  For UNICS, the loss snaps a four-game winning streak and complicates the team's chances of finishing better than 6th.

Star of the Game
Nik Caner-Medley. His clutch shooting kept Astana in the game during the first three quarters. He also played a big role in Astana's 4th-quarter run.

Stat of the Game
31-10 - Astana crushed UNICS in the final period to pick up the win.

Quotes
Astana head coach Ramunas Butautas:
- We're very satisfied with the win. We managed to beat a Euroleague quality team today. I'd like to thank our guys for their excellent work, both on defense and offense. We can't relax now. There's a VTB United League playoff berth at stake. We need to be ready for every game, just like today.

UNICS head coach Evgeny Pashutin:
- This was probably our worst game today. I'm really unhappy with our performance, especially in the 3rd and 4th quarters. The score in the second half speaks for itself. Astana played very aggressively and deserved to win.

Top Performers
Astana: Nik Caner-Medley - 17 points, five rebounds; J'Covan Brown - 15 points, five rebounds; Luksa Andric - 14 points; Jerry Johnson - 12 points, eight assists; Rasid Mahalbasic - 12 points; Pat Calathes - eight points, 12 rebounds.

UNICS: Keith Langford - 24 points, Kostas Kaimakoglou - 14 points, nine rebounds; D'or Fischer - 10 points, five rebounds; Sergey Bykov - six points, nine assists.

Photo of the Game