Unics Kazan trumped Union Olimpija 63-76

Unics finished the 2011-12 Turkish Airlines Euroleague regular season in style by downing Union Olimpija 63-76 in Ljubljana, Slovenia on Wednesday night. Unics finished third in Group D with a 7-3 record right behind FC Barcelona Regal and Montepaschi. Union Olimpija dropped to 1-9 and tied for fifth place at the end of this round. Henry Domercant led the winners with 16 points. Terrell Lyday and Aleksey Savrasenko each added 14, Kelly McCarty had 13 while Lynn Greer got 12 for Unics. Jaka Blazic led Olimpija with 13 points. Sasu Salin and Jan Mocnik each added 11 while Deon Thompson had 10 for the hosts. Lyday led an 0-8 opening run that allowed Unics to get the lead for good. Unics boosted its margin to 9-25 late in the first quarter and kept a solid 29-41 margin at halftime. Olimpija managed to get within 37-44 midway through the third quarter but Domercant and Greer allowed Unics to seal the outcome, 46-64, minutes before the final buzzer.

Lyday swished an baseline jumper to open the scoring. Domercant, Savrasenko and Lyday quickly made it 0-8 for the visitors before Thompson opened Olimpija's side of the scoreboard with a jumper to which Salin added a tip-in at 4-8. Thompson got Olimpija even closer, but Petr Samoylenko fed Savrasenko for a dunk and Lyday hit another basket at 6-12. Savrasenko kept getting loose underneath, and when Salin struck from downtown for Olimpija, Lyday matched it on the next play. Domercant also hit from long-range, making it 9-20. Savrasenko and Mike Wilkinson from downtown, provided the biggest Unics lead yet, 9-25, but Thompson returned to put Olimpija into double-digit territory with a jumper to close the first quarter.

Jaka Blazic drove for the first basket of the second quarter for Olimpija before Nathan Jawai rocked the rim for Unics. Mocnik downed a triple then Blazic stepped up with 3 more points to drop the difference to 19-27. Savrasenko returned the Unics lead to double-digits, but Thompson and Blazic lowered it to 23-29 to mark the end of a 14-4 run for the hosts. Solid defense and a pair of triples by McCarty relaunched the Unics lead into double digits, 23-35. Only Salin's points kept Unicaja from falling further behind as Greer finished a dominant first half for Unics at the foul line for a 29-41 scoreboard.

Lyday boosted Unics again with a triple to open the third quarter. Both defenses played better then, until Mocnik scored a quick 5 points in a row and assisted Robert Rothbart on a layup to get Olimpija as close as it had been in a while, 37-44. Greer scored in penetration but a baseline jumper by Thompson kept Olimpija within 39-46. Greer kept pacing Unics with a bomb from downtown, as the guests kept excelling in defense. Olimpija went scoreless for more than 2 minutes and McCarty joined the three-point shootout to break the game open, 39-52. Erjon Kastrati tried to change things with a fast break layup but a basket by Domercant fixed the score at 41-54 after 30 minutes.

Greer and Jawai made free throws early in the fourth quarter, as Olimpija kept struggling to score. Bertans stepped up with an acrobatic three-point play that Domercant erased with a catch-and-shoot triple for a 44-61 Unics margin. Dino Muric buried a long jumper but Domercant quickly answered from downtown to seal the outcome, 46-64, with more than 6 minutes to go. Bertans insisted with another three-pointer and Blazic added a running jumper to get Olimpija within 51-64. Mocnik joined the three-point shootout but Domercant and Savrasenko stepped up to keep Unics out of trouble, 54-67. Rothbart dunked, but everything was said and done already. Unics had cruised to another road win and Olimpija stepped away from the 2011-12 Turkish Airlines Euroleague.