Unics Kazan dominated EA7 Emporio Armani Milan 59-44

Unics Kazan dominated on the defensive end and got strong efforts from its trio of guards in slamming EA7 Emporio Armani Milan 59-44 on Wednesday to stay atop Group G with a 3-0 record. Henry Domercant paced the winners with 16 points, Petr Samoylenko scored 12 and Terrell Lyday 10 for the winners. Vladimir Veremeenko grabbed 11 rebounds as the host outrebounded Milan 46-31. The end result was the fewest points Milan has scored in a Turkish Airlines Euroleague game. Domercant got off to a red-hot start as the hosts took a double-digit lead in the first quarter. A 12-0 charge led by Lyday to start the second quarter put Unics ahead 32-12 and Milan never got closer than 10 the rest of the way. Nicolo Melli paced Armani with a career-high 17 points.

Unics won the opening tip and in his first touch since being named bwin Euroleague MVP for January, Domercant pulled up on the left baseline for a jumper. Samoylenko hit a long jumper before Antonis Fotsis got Milan on the scoreboard from behind the arc. Domercant knocked down a long three and Samoylenko beat the 24-second clock with a foul line jumper as Kazan raced out to 12-5. Stefano Mancinelli scored in transition for the visitors before Domercant drilled another triple. He drove and assisted to Aleksey Savrasenko on Unics’s next basket to take the lead to double figures. Omar Cook answered back with a three at the two-minute mark only to see the red-hot Domercant sink another shot. Drew Nicholas set up Mason Rocca underneath to make it 20-12 after 10 minutes.

Kelly McCarty and Lyday got Kazan going before the latter found Vladimir Veremeenko for a chippie that made it 26-12 and forced EA7 coach Sergio Scariolo to use a timeout. Bostjan Nachbar added a jumper, while on defense to hosts continued blanking Milan. After Ioannis Bourousis was stopped in the paint, he voiced his displeasure to the referee, who gave the big man a technical foul. Lyday hit the free throws and followed with a layup to cap a 12-0 start to the quarter. Melli hit from outside to end a nearly six-minute scoring drought for the visitors. Once Milan found its footing, Bourousis scored his first points from the line and Cook hit Melli for a fast break layup to get within 32-18. Melli remained a top weapon with another basket, though Mike Wilkinson and Lyday kept the hosts in total control, 36-20, at halftime.

Nearly three minutes passed before McCarty scored the first points of the second half. Fotsis worked hard for a bucket inside only to see Samoylenko team beautifully with Savraseko to engineer a layup for the big man. Domercant displayed a pretty move in the paint to re-extend the lead to 20. Melli came back inside for a basket-plus-foul, however Samoylenko hit right back with a triple from the top of the key. Free throws by Melli made it 45-27 at the end of the third quarter.

Melli continued a strong individual effort with the first two baskets of the fourth quarter. Samoylenko got the hosts back on track with a triple and after Drew Nicholas matched him – and drew a foul – the Kazan point guard scored again. McCarty provided a highlight with a block of Leon Radosevic, but Nicholas narrowed the gap to 50-37 with another three-pointer. Then Alessandro Gentile connected from downtown to make it a 10-point game midway through the fourth quarter, which prompted a timeout from Unics coach Evgeny Pashutin. Alas Domercant penetrated for a tough layup and a little later Lynn Greer hit a three to restore a 15-point edge. Domercant free throws made it 57-40 with 2:29 to go and were effectively the nails in the coffin as Unics coasted to victory.