Unics Kazan escaped from Abdi Ipecki Arena in Istanbul with a 74-80 victory over Galatasaray Medical Park in Group L on Wednesday. Unics used a late 11-2 run to take a 69-75 with a minute left in the game and then made 5 of the last 6 free throws to seal the win. Chuck Eidson led the winners scoring 23 points – 9 of which came during the crucial run – Ian Vougioukas bagged 17 points with 7 rebounds, while Mike Wilkinson drained 14. David Hawkins contributed with 20 points for Galatasaray, Jamont Gordon nailed 18 and Erwin Dudley added 16, but prized newcomer Carlos Arroyo scored just 2 points off the bench.

Hawkins opened the scoring from long distance after two scoreless minutes before Vougioukas answered from mid range. Gordon and Boni Ndong increased the gap to 7-2. Eidson fueled the visitors from mid range then Cenk Akyol from beyond the arc made it 10-4. Gordon and Vougioukas made jumpers, but Hawkins’s layup extended the margin to 16-7, which caused Unics to call an early timeout. Vougioukas and Kostas Kaimakoglou came back with layups. With 35 seconds left in the quarter, a Mike Wilkinson put back cut the cushion to 18-13. Gordon was perfect from the line, but Kaimakoglou’s three-pointer beat the buzzer to make it 20-16 after 10 minutes. Wilkinson remained on fire to score from downtown to begin the second quarter, but back-to-back triples from Gordon and Akyol kept Galatasaray in charge, 26-21. Wilkinson cut the gap to 1, before Arroyo capped 6 unanswered points for the hosts to lead 32-25. Mire Chatman and Terrell Lyday highlighted an 8-2 surge of the guests to close within 34-33 with two minutes left. Dudley made a jumper and Vougioukas hit free throws to finish 36-35 at halftime for Galatasaray.

Milan Macvan and Gordon pushed the home team back to 41-35 at the start of the second half, but Unics reacted to take the lead for the first time when Eidson intercepted a ball to finish the break with an easy layup. Hawkins connected with Ndong, who scored a layup, as did Gordon for a 47-42 Galatasaray advantage. Eidson scored in the paint. Hawkins drilled 5 points in a row for a 52-47 edge. Eidson free throws kept Kazan close, but Hawkins seemed to be unstoppable and made his third three for a 55-49 margin. A Vladimir Veremenko jumper and Eidson triple allowed Unics to finish down by one, 55-54, at the end of the third quarter. A 6-0 run early in the last quarter with 4 points by Dudley gave a 61-54 margin to Galatasaray; Chatman and Vougioukas answered for the visiting team, Gordon pushed his side again, but Petr Samoylenko from long distance and a three-point-play by Eidson put Unics up 63-64. Jumpers by Dudley and Akyol helped Galatasaray regain control, 67-64, but an 11-2 Kazan run, highlighted by 9 points from Eidson gave a 69-75 margin to the visitors. A Dudley layup kept Galatasaray alive, a three-pointer by Hawkins cut the difference to 74-77 with 20 seconds left. Then Samoylenko split free throws, but Gordon missed a three pointer and Chatman sealed the Unics win from the foul line.