Wolters and Kalinic lead Zvezda to an upset victory over UNICS / News - Basketnews.com

Credit: Roman Kruchinin/Euroleague Basketball via Getty Images Credit Roman Kruchinin/Euroleague Basketball via Getty Images

UNICS Kazan (13-11) suffered a tough loss at the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague, falling to the visiting Crvena Zvezda mts Belgrade (9-14). The Serbs stopped a two-game losing skid, winning 84-77 (22-11, 21-32, 20-22, 21-12).

Player of the Game EFF 22 Nikola Kalinic Points 20 Accuracy 8-12 Rebounds 2 Assists 6

The game was tied at 65 at the start of the fourth, but Crvena Zvezda exploded with an 11-3 run to gain a seven-point lead with three minutes remaining (78-71). Mario Hezonja drained a 3-pointer on the other end, but Nikola Kalinic converted a tough mid-ranger to help Zvezda maintain a substantial advantage (80-74).

Nate Wolters and Aaron White scored two consecutive buckets during the last minute to help Zvezda secure a seven-point victory.

Kalinic and Wolters were the leaders for Zvezda. Kalinic finished with 20 points (7/10 2PT, 1/2 3PT, 3/4 FT), 2 rebounds, 6 assists, 3 turnovers, and 22 PIR.

"I feel great! A big win for us after two losses," Kalinic said. "And also UNICS killed us, they blew us out in Belgrade, so we wanted to show that they are not so much better than us. They beat us over there by 20-something points, so this is a very good win for us. We are going to try to get back on track, and we will try to reach the playoffs."

Wolters ended with 19 points (6/10 2PT, 2/3 3PT, 1/2 FT), 4 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steal, 3 turnovers, and 21 PIR.

Mario Hezonja and Marco Spissu scored 18 and 17, respectively. Isaiah Canaan had an off night, ending up scoreless (0/4 2PT, 0/1 3PT), 2 assists, 1 turnover, and -8 PIR.

Crvena Zvezda jumped out to a fast start, going up 9-0 and not allowing UNICS to score for more than four minutes. John Brown helped the hosts cut their deficit to two (9-11) but Zvezda finished the period on an 11-2 run to double UNICS' score after one (22-11).

However, UNICS went on a 9-0 run in the second to gain their first lead of the contest (31-29). Zvezda didn't allow them to enjoy the lead for long, quickly gaining a six-point advantage again (43-37). But then, Mario Hezonja and Marco Spissu ended the half with back-to-back threes, and the game was all tied at halftime (43-43).

UNICS held a five-point advantage several times in the third period but Zvezda didn't let them gain a substantial lead. The hosts went on a 7-0 run to gain a nine-point cushion (65-56), but Zvezda weathered the storm again, cutting their deficit to two going into the final period (63-65).

Crvena Zvezda: Nikola Kalinic 20, Nate Wolters 19, Luka Mitrovic 10, Austin Hollins 10, Aaron White 8 (6 REB).

UNICS: Mario Hezonja 18 (9 REB), Marco Spissu 17 (5/6 3PT), John Brown 13 (6 REB), Tonye Jekiri 7 (6 REB), Viacheslav Zaitcev 7.

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