«Avtodor» Saratov, Russia vs. UNICS Kazan, Russia

UNICS Kazan defeated Avtodor Saratov on the road, 97-70. Leading by 12 entering the 4th quarter, UNICS delivered the knockout punch, outscoring Avtodor 27-12 over the final 10 minutes. Kazan has now won 12 straight, while Saratov drops its 4th in a row.

Intro
The pressure was on for Avtodor entering Sunday. After three consecutive losses in the league and elimination from the Eurocup, the team needed a win. UNICS, meanwhile, had won 11 straight, trailing 1st-place CSKA by two games in the standings.

Neither team could gain much of an advantage in the first half. UNICS got a boost from Keith Langford, making his first appearance since late January. The American guard scored 12 points in the first half. Kazan also got Artsiom Parakhouski going inside and knocked down 56% of its 3-point attempts to take a modest seven-point lead at halftime (47-40).

Back-to-back 3's from Langford and Anton Ponkrashov to start the 3rd quarter put Kazan on top by 13. Despite Avtodor's best efforts to keep it close, the visitors enjoyed a 12-point advantage entering the final quarter (70-58).

Turning Point
Avtodor failed to mount a comeback in the final 10 minutes. Kazan opened the period on a 7-0 run and went on to enjoy an impressive 27-point win in Saratov.

Star Player
Kostas Kaimakoglou. UNICS dominated at both ends of the court. Kaimakoglou was a big factor in Kazan's successs, nearly notching a triple-double (16 points, seven rebounds, eight assists).

Stat of the Game
-27 - Avtodor suffered its biggest loss of the season.

Quotes
UNICS head coach Evgeny Pashutin:
- I want to congratulate my team because it's tough to play in front of Saratov's home crowd. We expected it would be a tough, physical game. Our guys withstood the pressure and showed character on defense. The rebounding battle and physical battle were key. Our challenge was to control the tempo for all 40 minutes, even if we had to have an artificial effect. We got the result thanks to our defense and control of the tempo.

Avtodor interim head coach Vladimir Antsiferov:
- We were incredibly psyched for the game, but a few things didn't go our way and we completely fell apart. We tried... Maybe we tried too hard. We'll figure out why we fell apart and why we couldn't hit our shots. We also let our opponent get some open looks, then they started to hit contested ones, too.