Montepaschi Siena routed Unicaja 68-91

Montepaschi Siena notched its second consecutive road victory by overwhelming Unicaja 68-91 to take a 3-0 record and sole possession of first place in Group F. Unicaja’s record fell to 0-3. Montepaschi could potentially qualify to the Turkish Airlines Euroleague Playoffs as soon as next week if it beats Unicaja in Siena. David Moss paced the winners with 20 points on 4-of-6 shooting from downtown plus 7 rebounds. Ksistof Lavrinovic added 18 points, David Andersen 15 and Bo McCalebb and Bootsy Thornton each scored 13 for the winners. Joel Freeland led the hosts with 14 points and 9 rebounds, while Tremmell Darden contributed 13 and Luka Zoric and Earl Rowland added 11 apiece. After Unicaja took a 7-0 to start, it was all Siena, as the visitors won every quarter, hitting key three-pointers and committing only 8 turnovers compared to Unicaja’s 19.

Darden was in the middle of things to start, scoring the first basket and feeding Freeland inside for a layup, giving the hosts a 4-0 lead. Freeland again scored on a drive, but McCalebb downed a triple, then banked in a reverse layup to bring Siena back in the game 5-7. Siena kept at it, as Thornton knocked down two straight layups and McCalebb made a pair foul shots, as the visitors took the lead 7-11. Rowland ended Siena’s 11-point run with a two-point jumper, but Thornton and David Andersen each struck from downtown to open a 9-17 lead. After an exchange of baskets, Darden muscled in a layup with the foul shot, then drained a triple to slice the deficit to 17-21. McCalebb punctuated an 0-6 run with a steal and a layup as the clock ran out, giving the visitors a 19-27 advantage.

After foul shots by Lavrinovic to open scoring in the quarter, Jorge Garbajosa buried a three-pointer, moving the score to 22-29. Igor Rakocevic and Garbajosa exchanged baskets, then Marco Carraretto knocked down a jumper for a 24-33 margin. The hosts scored twice down low, but Lavrinovic drilled two consecutive triples and Nikos Zisis nailed a short jumper as the visitors grabbed their biggest lead 28-41. Unicaja’s Gerald Fitch accounted for the team’s next 4 points and McCalebb provided 2 more for Siena, pushing the scoreboard to 32-43. Lavrinovic added a put back and foul and David Moss layed it in to extend their lead to 35-50. Foul shots and a baseline jumper by Darden with 7 seconds on the clock sliced the deficit to 40-50 at halftime.

Freeland hit a baseline jumper, then Thornton scored on a spinning hook shot in the lane with a foul shot to keep Siena’s lead in double digits 43-53. Luka Zoric got his first field goal on a drive to the basket, then after Andersen and Rowland exchanged baskets, Zoric scored again on a fast break, pushing the score to 48-55. Moss shut the door on the mini-rally with a triple, but Zoric hit a two-pointer for a 50-58 as the scoring pace remained up-tempo. Moss came up with the next 4 points for the visitors, which Freeland answered with a layup, and then Lavrinovic drained a spinning one-hander in the paint, lifting Siena’s lead back up to double-digits, 53-64. Rowland knocked down 4 straight free throws, then after a scoring lull Lavrinovic hit another one-hander and Rakocevic knocked down free throws as well as a layup on a breakaway for a 57-71 lead at the close of the quarter.

Moss netted two consecutive triples early in the quarter as Siena opened a 59-76 advantage. Berni Rodriguez hit a layup and Andersen added free throws and a two-pointer as the lead grew to 61-80. Zoric got basket in the paint and Freeland banged in a short-range jumper, but Moss connected from deep twice more for a 65-86 margin. Siena coasted the rest of the way, claiming a convincing 68-91 victory.