Shved leads CSKA past UNICS, 75-86

CSKA Moscow returned to winning ways and avenged a recent defeat by downing host UNICS Kazan 75-86 at Basket Hall on Friday. CSKA improved to 13-8 in the standings while UNICS dropped to 12-9. Alexey Shved led the winners with 27 points. Nikola Milutinov added 17 while Will Clyburn had 16 for CSKA.

Regular Season

Round 23 of 34

game CSKA Moscow vs UNICS Kazan

Group Regular Season

28 January 2022, 16:00

Regular Season

28 January 2022, 16:00

Regular Season

UNICS Kazan

UNK

75

86

CSKA Moscow

CSK

Final Score

l

w

l

w

l

Mario Hezonja and Lorenzo Brown led UNICS with 21 points apiece. Tonye Jekiri added 11 for the guests. Lorenzo Brown stepped up early, getting help from Jekiri to give UNICS a 20-16 lead after 10 minutes. Milutinov and Iffe Lundberg fueled a 0-10 second-quarter run which allowed CSKA to take a 32-37 edge at halftime. Johannes Voigtmann and Shved took over after the break, making it a double-digit game, 40-50. Hezonja and Brown brought UNICS within 66-67 but Shved and an unstoppable Clyburn took over in crunch time to lead CSKA to an important victory.

Shved got CSKA going with a floater and followed Voigtmann's layup with a three-pointer that made UNICS call timeout at 0-7. Brown stepped up with a three-point play, fed Mario Hezonja for a corner triple and hit a turnaround jumper for an 8-8 tie. Shved kept pacing CSKA but Dmitrii Uzinskii struck from downtown to put UNICS in charge, 11-10. Voigtmann and Lorenzo Brown traded baskets, then Nikita Kurbanov scored down low for a 13-14 CSKA edge. Brown hit a mid-range jumper, and got help from Jekiri to boost the hosts' lead to 20-16 after 10 minutes.

Lundberg took over with a driving layup early in the second quarter that O.J. Mayo matched with a mid-range jumper. Milutinov buried a turnaround shot and Daniel Hackett added a three-point play that let CSKA regain a 22-23 lead. Lundberg struck from beyond the arc and Milutinov dunked to cap a 0-10 CSKA run before Uzinskii finished a four-chance UNICS offense with a triple. Milutinov hit a jump hook and Hackett soon boosted the guests' lead to 26-32. Uzinskii dunked and Brown added a jumper at 30-32. Shved answered from downtown and Milutinov scored again while Hezonja kept UNICS within 32-37 at halftime.

Tonye Jekiri ignited the UNICS crowd with an alley-oop slam soon after the break. Shved answered with back-to-back triples and Voigtmann improved upon Brown's layup with a bomb from downtown that made it a double-digit game, 36-46. Jarrell Brantley scored in the paint and Jekiri added a power basket for the hosts, but Voigtmann and Shved kept the guests way ahead, 40-50. Hezonja sank a baseline jumper, Brown struck from downtown and Brantley added a layup and a three-point play to get UNICS as close as 51-54. Clyburn rescued CSKA with 7 quick points and Kurbanov took over with a layup-and-one but Jekiri, Lorenzo Brown and Hezonja kept the hosts within 57-64 after 30 minutes.

Hezonja sent a behind-the-back assist to Brantley early in the fourth quarter and soon scored in penetration to make CSKA call timeout at 61-64. Hezonja kept pacing the hosts with a bomb from beyond the arc but Milutinov kept his team ahead 64-67 with under 6 minutes left. Hezonja hit an off-balance shot that Clyburn matched with a layup. Shved buried a corner triple and Clyburn improved upon Andrey Vorontsevich's a tip-in with his own shot from downtown to break the game open, 68-75, with under 3 minutes remaining. Shved hit a turnaround jumper but Hezonja kept UNICS within 73-78 with 1:11 left. Milutinov took over with a put-back slam off a CSKA timeout that sealed the outcome.