Former Eurocup champion Unics Kazan of Russia staved off a late rally by newcomer Stelmet Zielona Gora Poland to hold onto a 67-74 victory in the Group F opener for both teams on Tuesday. A 0-6 run over the game's last 2:30 saved the victory for Kazan, which had led by as much as 13 in the fourth quarter before Zielona Gora's late surge. Kostas Kaimakoglou scored 19 points - 15 of them in the game's first 13 minutes - to lead the winners. Mire Chatman followed with 17 points and 6 steals, while Ian Vougioukas chipped in 10 points. Walter Hodge pumped in 16 points for Zielona Gora, which tied 6 times in the first half and came back to within 67-69 before Kazan's big finish. Quinton Hosley added 13 points and 7 rebounds and Kamil Chanas 10 points for the hosts.

A three-pointer by Hosley got Zielona Gora's first Eurocup game off to a good start and sparked his team to a 7-2 advantage. Kazan rallied on 5 points in a row by Kaimakoglou to tie before Eidson completed the comeback with a triple that put the guests up 9-12. Two ties ensued before Kaimakoglou's back-to-back baskets made it 14-18 but again Zielona Gora tied twice, on Oliver Stevic's two-pointer and Milos Lopicic's layup before Chatman beat the first-quarter buzzer to keep Kazan up 20-22. Zielona Gora kept battling back, tying again at 25-25 on a triple by Mantas Cesnaukis. Kaimakoglou was unstoppable, however, as 2 more two-pointers gave him 15 points already in the game's first 13 minutes. Hosley kept Zielona Gora within 29-31 before a 2-9 Kazan run ending with a layup by Ian Vougioukas sent the visitors on their way to a 35-42 halftime lead.

Kazan followed free throws by Vougioukas to a 41-48 lead midway through the third quarter, but Zielona Gora refused to buckle. Big men Walter Hodge and Adam Lapeta combined for a series of layups to keep the hosts within 47-53. But before the quarter could end, Terrell Lyday sank a two-pointer and Chatman buried a last-minute three to extend the difference to 47-58. When Vougioukas opened the final quarter with a layup at 47-60, Kazan seemed in control. The visitors were still up double digits, 56-67, with 5 minutes left when Hodge buried a three-pointer, Chanas copied him and Stevic added a shorter jumper to suddenly make it 64-69. With its defense stopping Kazan left and right, Zielona Gora then got a three-point play the hard way from Chanas to make it 67-69 with 2:40 to play. But now the Kazan defense imposed its will, and Zielona Gora failed to score again as the visitors poured in 6 more points to take the victory home to Russia.