Unics eliminates Zielona Gora with win cemented during first quarter

Unics Kazan managed to pull its fourth Group O win on Wednesday afternoon thanks to a solid first quarter that allowed them to defeat Stelmet Zielona Gora by 82-64 at home. A starting 18-2 marked the fate of the game as the guests tried to fight their way back but with a much too big obstacle to overcome. Unics therefore advanced to the eighthfinals with its 4-1 record while Zielona Gora says goodbye to its qualification chances after dropping to 1-4. Ian Vougioukas led the winners with a perfect night of 19 points - 6 of 6 from the field and 7 of 7 free throws -, 3 rebounds and 4 assists. Chuck Eidson added 13, Andrew Goudelock 12 and Luke Harangody 10. For Zielona Gora, Przemyslaw Zamojski led the way with 14 points and Vladimir Dragicevic added 13.

There was only one team in the first quarter of the game, and that was Unics Kazan. A starting 8-0 soon developed into 18-2 as Andrew Goudelock had his sixth point in as many minutes. Adam Hrycaniuk scored Stelmet Zielona Gora's fourth point in minute 7 but not much later, Chuck Eidson slammed the ball for the 26-4. The first period followed the trend until Lukasz Koszarek closed it with a basket for the guests, 30-12. Things changed in the second quarter. Zielona Gora held its ground and improved in defense, and Unics found it harder to find the basket. However, things would have to change more than that for the gusts because they could only keep up now and the gap on the scoreboard remained, 47-32 at the halftime break. Przemyslaw Zamojski took the third quarter by storm with two straight threes that made it 51-38 and Vladimir Dragicevic's three-point play put Zielona Gora even closer, 52-41. Unics reacted and managed to stop the bleeding through Kostas Kaimakoglou and Eidson, while Ian Vougioukas was having a great game at that point with 11 points with no miss. With an uncontested 9-0, Unics went beyond the 20 points again but Marcin Sroka and Hrycaniuk did not throw the towel: 67-50 after 30 minutes. In the last quarter however, Unics managed to hold the guests back and when Vougioukas scored his 15th point for the 76-58 with 4 minutes to go, it was clear that Unics could start celebrating its passage to the next phase.