Valencia Basket defeated Unics Kazan 80-70 in Game 1 of their two-game quarterfinals series on Wednesday night. This win means that in Game 2, to be played in Kazan, Russia, in one week, a victory or a loss by up to 10 points will be enough for Valencia to advance. The Spanish side, led by Justin Doellman, took the lead for good in the second quarter. Unics had a red-hot Terrell Lday, but it never came closer than 4 points, while Valencia led by as much as 57-44 before settling for a 10-point advantage going into Game 2. Doellman had 18 points plus 8 rebounds and 5 steals off the bench, and Bojan Dubljevic scored 19 points in 18 minutes on the floor. Stefan Markovic chipped in with 10 points and 5 assists in victory. For Unics, Lyday nailed 28 points on 6-for-6 three-point shooting. Mire Chatman collected 13 points and 8 rebounds, while Chuck Eidson scored 11 points.

Ian Vougioukas and Serhiy Lishchuk each had couple of layups to start things up. After Markovic made a basket-plus-foul for 7-6, a jumper from Chatman and a triple from Eidson kept Unics's momentum. Lyday sank a three-pointer for a 13-17 lead and added another three-pointer a minute later, but Vitor Faverani answered, scoring 8 points in a short span giving the hosts a 21-20 edge after 10 minutes. Doellman and Vougioukas traded baskets at the start of the second quarter, and Valencia got separation when Markovic and Doellman scored 5 points apiece, including each sinking a triple, for 33-24. Lyday snapped a 10-2 run with a three-pointer, and Nikita Shabalkin cut it to 37-31 from close range, but Dubljevic scored 8 points before halftime – first a triple right after a timeout, then added a floater, before finishing the half with a floater-plus-foul to make it 45-35 going into the break.

At the start of the third quarter, Dubljevic and Markovic extended the lead to 12 points before Dubljevic and Lyday traded three-pointers, with Lyday getting a free throw as well, for 52-44. Valencia raised it to 57-44 with a triple from Rafa Martinez, however, Unics had an answer with Lyday nailing his fifth triple in as many attempts, and Chatman stealing two balls and racing for fastbreak baskets. Rodrigo San Miguel snapped the run with a timely three, and Lishchuk made the margin 8 points as Valencia tried with zone defense, but Nikita Shabalkin and Eidson made jump shots cutting it to 64-58 going into the final quarter. At the beginning of the fourth quarter, Doellman scored from close and long range, then assisted Pau Ribas for an uncontested layup and 70-60. After Lyday and Ribas traded threes, Dubljevic and Doellman scored from under the hoop for 7 unanswered Valencia points to make it 77-65. Unics, though, used a series of offensive rebounds to end its drought, and Lyday drew 3 free throws and made them all. But, with every single point potentially critical, Doellman made a steal and raced for a dunk to round out the scoring at 80-70.