Unics Kazan took a step towards the elimination rounds thanks to an overwhelming home win over Hapoel Jeruaslem on Tuesday by 98-45. The win lifts Unics to a 4-4 record to tie with Hapoel, also 4-4, good for a share of second place. After a 21-8 start there was no stopping for Unics who simply rolled over Hapoel for an easy win at the final buzzer. Up to five Unics players scored in double digits, all of them led by Darjus Lavrinovic and his 21 points. Marko Tusek added 19, Sergey Chikalkin 18, Tariq Kirksay 12 and Jamal McCullough 10. For Hapoel, only Guy Pniny scored in double digits as he finished the game with 14 points.

Unics was off to a solid start as it shared effort in offense to soar to an 21-8 in four minutes after Jamal McCullough's triple. Anthony Roberson woke Hapoel up with his basket, but the guests only found ways to go ahead from the free throw line, and that's why Marko Tusek closed the first quarter with a basket that made it 26-14 for Unics. The hosts' defense also excelled in the second quarter as Hapoel struggled to score. Triples by Tusek and Dusko Savanovic launched Unics to a 33-16 and free throws by Victor Keyru made it a 20-point game, 39-18. Only Guy Pniny seemed to be alive at this point for Hapoel but he could not avoid that by the halftime break, Unics was dominating at ease, 46-25. The second half of the game had no history at all. Unics increased its advantage until it surpassed the 30 points and it was all easy from that point on. Always sharing the offensive responsibilities, the hosts had a decent 10 of 23 from the arc while Hapoel got stuck att 11 of 30 in two-point shots. McCullough hit a new three for 58-29 as only Pniny managed to reach the double digits in scoring, a clear symptom that Hapoel had nothing to do as after 30 minutes the scoreboard showed a 72-39. The last period was a mere formality in which the hosts kept scoring and scoring and the demoralized guests simply waited for the final buzzer.