UNICS Kazan rallied back from 18 points down and ended up running away for an 85-71 victory at home over ALBA Berlin for its third straight win.
UNICS rallies from 18 down to race past ALBA, 85-71
ALBA jumped ahead 21-39 in the second quarter before UNICS answered with 11 straight points. The hosts started the second half with a 12-0 surge to pull ahead and after some back and forth, UNICS put the game away with a 20-3 fourth quarter run for its fifth win in the last six games and a 6-5 record. Mario Hezonja led the way with 22 points, 7 rebounds and 5 assists, while Lorenzo Brown poured in 21 points, Tonye Jekiri scored 11 points, Isaiah Canaan added 10 points and John Brown chipped in 9 points, 4 rebounds and 4 steals. ALBA dropped its third in a row and fifth in the last six games to fall to 3-8. Christ Koumadje paced ALBA with 12 points and 12 rebounds while Jaleen Smith scored 12 points and Luke Sikma tallied 11 points and 7 rebounds.
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Sikma converted on the break to get the scoring going for ALBA and John Brown’s jumper was UNICS’ first points. Sikma added another basket as the German side moved ahead 2-7 only to see UNICS answer with the next six points - four from Lorenzo Brown to lead 8-7. ALBA big man Koumadje had a big impact early with 5 points and 5 rebounds and Sikma was up to six points as ALBA was leading 10-16. Canaan did answer with a three-pointer, but ALBA ended the quarter with a 0-10 run and a 13-26 advantage.
UNICS’ newly-acquired Janis Timma started the second quarter with a three-pointer. Smith punched back with back-to-back three-pointers, two free throws and an assist on Ben Lammers’ alley-oop as ALBA raced ahead by 17 points - 19-36. A Yovel Zoosman triple increased the gap to 21-39. UNICS fought its way back into the game with an 11-0 run over nearly 3 minutes thanks to three-pointers from Hezonja and Lorenzo Brown to get within 32-39. ALBA was not impressed and Louis Olinde’s triple had the guests back up 34-46. Hezonja came back with a monster dunk but UNICS was still down 40-48 at the break.
UNICS stormed out of the break with high pressure defense, forcing four turnovers while Hezonja drained two jumpers and Jekiri had two dunks in a 14-0 run to open a 52-48 lead. Oscar da Silva finally got ALBA on the board after almost 5 minutes of action and Smith evened the game again 52-52. The teams swapped five-point spurts and three free throws from Koumadje gave ALBA the lead 59-60 after 30 minutes.
Lorenzo Brown started the fourth quarter to give UNICS the lead back, the first of a string of five lead changes in the first 4 minutes, with Koumadje twice scoring for ALBA. Canaan pushed the hosts back ahead and started a 10-0 run which also included a Lorenzo Brown three-point play and a 75-66 advantage with under 4 minutes to play. Sikma ended the rut after nearly 3 minutes but UNICS mounted another 10-0 run with a Canaan three-pointer and two Jekiri transition scores for an 85-69 lead to decide the game.