Djordjevic shines late as Ostend hands Unics its first loss

Four players scored at least 13 points as Telenet Ostend snapped the longest winning streak in Eurocup history by beating Unics Kazan 78-75 at home in Group O of the Last 32. Dusan Djordjevic had 15 points including a three-point play and 2 free throws in the final eight seconds as Ostend ended Kazan’s 13-game winning streak, dating back to last season’s quarterfinals. Pierre Antoine Gillet added 15 points, Mateusz Ponitka had 14 and Brent Wright chipped in 13 as Ostend improved to 2-1 in the group. Unics Kazan dropped to 2-1 despite Andrew Goudelock’s 13 points. Chuck Eidson had 11 and both Ian Vougioukas and Vladimir Veremeenko added 10 points in the loss.

Nikita Kurbanov scored six points as Kazan jumped ahead 4-10. Gillet and Wright knocked down long balls as Ostend went up 13-12. The lead switched hands eight times before Veremeenko’s basket made it 24-25 after one quarter. Eidson and Pavel Sergeev opened the second quarter with treys to make it 24-31. Ponitka responded with nine points in a 13-5 run as Ostend pulled ahead 37-36. A late three by Goudelock gave the guests the advantage 46-47 at the break.
Kazan moved ahead 46-51 early in the third but Wright scored six points in a 10-0 Ostend spurt for a 56-51 lead. And the hosts hit the last four points of the quarter to lead 63-57 after 30 minutes. Gillet’s three-ball increased the margin to 66-59 early in the fourth but Unics knotted the game at 71-71 with a minute to play. It was 73-73 when Djordjevic converted a three-point play with eight seconds left. Goudelock made two free throws with four seconds remaining but Djordjevic knocked down two foul shots of his own with three seconds to play for a 78-75 lead. Goudelock turned the ball over to secure the Kazan defeat.