Unics Kazan bounced back from a defeat in its Last 16 opener to top Turk Telekom on Tuesday night in Group J. The big man duo of Vladimir Veremeenko and Kresimir Loncar led the way for the hosts, who took a double-digit lead in the first period and increased it to 15 in the second. Telekom cut the gap to 39-31 at halftime and rallied behind Kennedy Winston to close the gap to 4 in the fourth quarter, but ran out of time and energy to complete the comeback. Loncar scored a season-high 20 to lead the hosts, while Veremeenko accounted for 14 points on perfect shooting. Marko Popovic added 8 points, mostly from the foul line. Winston paced Telekom with 13 points as the visitors’ starting big men, Michael Wright and Kris Lang, both found themselves in early foul trouble and combined for just 6 points in 38 minutes.

The hosts started by getting Veremeenko open for a layup before Serkan Erdogan answered with Turk Telekom’s first basket. Bekir Yarangume converted a three-point play that gave Telekom a slim 4-5 lead, however Kazan answered back as Veremeenko scored twice and Petr Samoylenko drilled a three-pointer in a 9-0 charge. Erdogan kept Telekom in the picture with a triple, but the visitors couldn’t stop Veremeenko, who sent Lang to the bench with 2 early fouls. And a Terrell Lyday three gave Kazan its first double-digit lead. An offensive foul on Wright was his second as the Telekom frontline struggled to impact the game. Dmitry Sokolv extended Kazan’d lead to 22-10 from the line. Winston and Asim Pars scored for Telekom before Artem Kouziakine gave the hosts a 25-14 lead after 10 minutes. A pair of Loncar baskets upped Kazan’s lead to 30-16 early in the second period. Erwin Dudley came back with back-to-back buckets for Telekom and Pars’s three-point play narrowed the gap to single digits. Soon though things unraveled further for the visitors as a bench technical allowed Unics to increase its lead to 38-23. But Telekom did not fall apart as Rod Blakney hit a three to trigger a 0-7 spurt that brought his team within 39-31 at the break.

Dudley further narrowed the gap to 6 as the second half began, but a lyday jumper and a Veremeenko slam kept Kazan ahead. Veremeenko free throws and a Sokolov bucket made it 47-34. Wright and Winston again got Telekom within 9 and then a Kris Lang basket made it 50-43, causing Unics head coach Aco Petrovic to take a timeout. But Popovic missed from three and Winston scored to get his team to 50-45 at the end of the third period. Lang stole the ball, drew a foul and made a free throw as Telekom further narrowed its deficit. Samoylenko drilled a well-timed three to keep Kazan in charge and Alexey Zhukanenko follwed with 2 free throws to make it 55-46. Telekom fought back behin Baris Ozcan and Winston to get within 4. This time Loncar scored 4 points and soon Popovic free throws restored a 10-point Unics lead as the hosts held on for a crucial home win.