Unics took the big showdown in the Russian League this weekend by downing defending champion CSKA Moscow 63-54 in Kazan on Saturday. Both teams join Lokomotiv Kuban in a three-way tie atop the standings, all with a 9-3 record. Kelly McCarty led the winners with 15 points, but Unics had 4 other players with at least 8 points. Jamont Gordon led CSKA with 13 points. Trajan Langdon added 11 while Matjaz Smodis pulled down 10 rebounds for the guests, that led 33-45 midway through the third quarter. An outstanding McCarty led a mamooth 22-2 run that former CSKA captain Zakhar Pashutin capped with a fast break layup to give Unics a 55-47 lead with under 6 minutes left. McCarty and Vladimir Veremeenko allowed Unics to seal the outcome down the stretch. Khimki improved to 7-5 by topping Krasnye Krylia 80-85 on the road on Sunday. Sergey Monya led the winners with 24 points on 6-of-7 triples. Keith Langford added 14, Aleksey Savrasenko had 11 while Kreso Loncar got 10 for Khimki. Gerald Green led Krylia with 20 points. JR Bremer added 17, Brion Rush 15 and Andrey Trushkin 10. Khimki led 51-67 after 30 minutes but a wild fourth-quarter rally got Krylia within 80-83. Free throws by Thomas Kelati made Khimki put the victory on ice. In other games, Loko downed Triumph 84-63, Enisey topped Nizhniy Novgorod 83-74 while Spartak edged Dynamo 87-85.
