The Super Cup final featured another match of the classic confrontation of domestic club basketball. By the way, the previous final between CSKA and UNICS took place not long ago. The decisive series of the playoffs of the United League 2023/24, the military team very confidently won the Kazan team with a score of 4:1.
On the way to the main match of the Super Cup, CSKA defeated Krasnodar Lokomotiv-Kuban (105:95) and Serbian Red Star (94:92), while UNICS was stronger than Turkish Besiktas (97:69) and Zenit St. Petersburg (78:72). The form of both teams gave reason to believe that the final would be close.
However, the first quarter of the UNICS was a real shock. In the first 10 minutes, Kazan had only one attempt from the field thanks to Tony Taylor’s three-pointer. It is not surprising that in this quarter Velimir Perasovic’s team did not manage to break even the 10-point mark – 9:22. Symbolic of UNICS’ failures were the three fouls committed by Kazan captain Dmitry Kulagin already at the end of the fourth minute of the match.
However, it was Kulagin who converted the next field goal for the Kazan team. This happened a minute and a half into the second quarter. The score was 27:11 and CSKA’s position looked very strong.
But UNICS did not even think of giving up. Already in the second quarter, the Kazan team picked up the attack, scoring 26 points on the way, and in the third quarter it was within reach of the rival. The unexpected inspiration for the chase was 22-year-old Mikhail Belenitsky, who scored three three-pointers in a row.
After his two free throws, CSKA’s lead was reduced to two points. However, the army team came to its senses in time. Three-pointers by Casper Ware, Anton Astapkovich and Semyon Antonov at the siren, along with five points in a row by Moscow’s Serbian newcomer Alexander Avramovich, allowed CSKA to finish the third quarter with a comfortable lead of 68:58.
In the last 10 minutes, the military team did not allow the rival to return to the game.
