CAI Zaragoza made its Eurocup debut in style, putting together a 27-0 first half run en rout to crushing Belfius Mons Hainaut 73-56 on Tuesday. Zaragoza faithful had plenty to cheer about, as the hosts scored 27 unanswered points to bridge the first and second quarters. Damjan Rudez and Jonathan Tabu hit two triples each during the big spurt, as Zaragoza built 45-20 halftime lead and cruised to victory. Rudez paced the winners with 16 points on 4-for-5 three-point shooting, Giorgi Shermadini had a double-double of 10 points and 10 rebounds, while Tabu also scored 10 points. Jason Love amassed 15 points plus 11 rebound for the visitors, Justin Cage scored 11, and Guy Muya Mubuyayi 10 in defeat.

The visitors opened the game with 2-11 lead as Robert Vaden hit a three-pointer, before Cage and Love each made couple of buckets in the first 4 minutes. However, it was all Zaragoza after that. The hosts finished the quarter on a 19-0 run, during which Tabu hit two three-pointers, Rudez contributed with a triple and 7 points, before Joseph Jones layup made it 23-13 after 10 minutes. At the start of the second quarter, Rudez nailed his second, and Michael Roll his first shot from downtown for 31-13, making it 27 consecutive points for the hosts. Zaragoza allowed only 7 points in the second quarter, while another triple from Roll, and couple of baskets from Pere Tomas helped make it 45-20 at halftime. After the break, Love and Muya got the visitors’ offense going, but threes from Viktor Sanikidze and Pedro Llompart kept the big lead safe. It was 61-41 after three quarters, and Belfius Mons scored 7 points to open the fourth as Vaden’s three-pointer cut it to 61-48. But that is as close as the visitors got, as two more shots behind the arc from Rudez made it 69-50, sealing the deal.