Unics Kazan takes giant step towards quarters by smashing Nymburk

Unics Kazan took a giant step towards the Eurocup Quarterfinals by trouncing CEZ Basketball Nymburk 58-91 in the first leg of their two-game eighthfinals series on Wednesday. Andrew Goudelock dominated with 36 points to tie the franchise Eurocup record. Kazan, which hosts the return leg next week and can afford to lose by up to 32 points and still advance. The visitors outscored Nymburk by more points in each successive quarter, from 5 in the first to 13 in the fourth. Nikos Zisis added 15 points and Kostas Kaimakoglou 12 for the winners. Tre Simmons paced Nymburk with 17 points and Rado Rancik added 13 in defeat.

Three free throws from Kaimakoglou represented all the scoring in the opening two minutes. Goudelock added a three before Rancik converted a basket-plus-foul for the hosts’ first points. Kaimakoglou nailed a three, but 4 points from Simmons kept Nymburk close, 7-9. Eight points from Zisis – half from the foul line – kept the visitors in front, but Rancik kept Nymburk in the game. A Luke Harangody triple gave Kazan a 15-20 lead after 10 minutes. Goudelock took over in the second quarter, seemingly scoring at will. He netted 10 points in five minutes – single-handedly outscoring Nymburk in that stretch – as Kazan took a double-digit lead, 22-32. Thomas Massamba and Simmons brought the hosts within 5, but Kaimakoglou answered from downtown and Ian Vougioukas followed with 7 points in one minute, during which he drew an unsportsmanlike foul from Rasid Mahalbasic for a 28-43 lead. Simmons, with a three, and free throws from Vojtech Hruban and Rancik made it 35-46 at the break.

Goudelock struck first in the second half. After Mahalbasic scored his first basket for Nymburk, Zisis and Goudelock connected on back-to-back threes to start a 2-12 charge. Zisis took Kazan’s lead to 20 and it didn’t stop there. Unics led by as many as 22 points twice before Petr Benda brought Nymburk to 47-67 through three quarters. The Goudelock iced the game with 6 points early in the fourth quarter to make it a 25-point game. Vladimir Veremeenko scored twice in a 0-10 run to make it 52-85 with three minutes to go as Unics took a major step towards the quarterfinals with an impressive win.