Oldenburg behind a brilliant night from Marko Popovic. The Kazan guard recorded 23 points and 10 assists to lead his team to the win. Unics led from start to finish in part because it shot the ball well – 9 of 15 three-pointers – and outrebounded the home side 26-42. Terrell Lyday added 16 points, Kelly McCarty and Maciej Lampe had 14 each and Hasan Rizvic 12. Lampe also grabbed 9 rebounds for Unics, which hosts Banvit BK in Week 2. Rickey Paulding and Aron Baynes paced Oldenburg with 17 points apiece, while Mindaugas Lukauskis, Louis Campbell and Oliver Stevic netted 10 each. Campbell also dished 5 assists for Oldenburg, which heads to France for a date with Le Mans next week.

Defense defined the game early as Unics held the hosts scoreless for three minutes while Lyday and Popovic got the visitors on the scoreboard. Campbell came through with Oldenburg’s first basket, but Kazan continued to control the game. Lampe scored twice and assisted on a third basket in a 0-8 run to give the visitors a double-digit lead. Baynes scored twice in the paint to boost the home side, but triples from Popovic and McCarty gave Unics an 8-20 lead. Popovic soon tripled again to make it a 15-point game, but Lukauskis came to the rescue for Oldenburg with a pair of threes to make it 18-27 after 10 minutes. The aerial showdown continued at the start of the second quarter as McCarty and Lukauskis swapped threes. Paulding got involved from downtown and then Oliver Stevic scored inside to make it 26-32. Nemanja Protic added a three and Oldenburg was within 5. The teams traded points for a few minutes and a Baynes free throw got the hosts as close as 35-39, however threes from Petr Samoylenko and McCarty set the halftime advantage at 37-47.

Kazan tacked on to its lead when Lampe and Popovic sank free throws to open the second half. Campbell nailed an Oldenburg three, but Unics found its rhythm and got points from Rizvic, Lydt and Lampe. Paulding converted a rare four-point play and soon hit one more triple, but Kazan remained in control. Samoylenko’s triple in the last minute of the quarter followed by Stevic inside made it 53-65 with 10 minutes remaining. Paulding kept pushing Oldenburg and Baynes made it a 10-point game only to see Popovic connect from downtown. Protic made 64-74 midway through the fourth quarter, but the hosts could not find a way to stop the Unica attacks. Popovic capped a brilliant evening with his fourth triple and then his 10th assist on a Rizvic basket as Unics cruised to a valuable road win.