Unics sweeps Ankara, cruises into the semifinals

Unics Kazan led from start to finish en route to an 88-52 win in the Game 2 of the Eurocup Quarterfinals on Wednesday, and a clean sweep of Aykon TED Ankara Kolejliler in their home-and-away series. Unics advances by an aggregate score 169-120, and will play either Crvena Zvezda Telekom or Budivelnik Kiev in the semifinals. Unics has now won 19 of 20 games during this Eurocup campaign, and had control from start to finish of its quarterfinals second leg. It built a double-digit margin in the first quarter, and held 43-33 advantage at halftime. If there was still any doubt, it disappeared in the third quarter when Andrew Goudelock fueled a 20-2 run for 67-41 lead, which translated into 148-109 series lead. Goudelock finished with 21 points and 6 assists, while Nikos Zisis had 12 points, 5 assists and 4 rebounds in victory. Luke Harangody scored 9, while Kostas Kaimakoglou collected 8 points plus 11 rebounds for Unics. Vanja Plisnic netted 13 points and grabbed 6 rebounds for the visitors, and Vladimir Golubovic scored 10 as Ankara ended its Eurocup debut season in the quarterfinals.
Unics took control from the start by winning the opening tip, after which Kaimakoglou drilled a three-pointer before a Nikita Kurbanov steal and Dmitry Sokolov tip-in made it 5-0 (86-68). Clay Tucker and Golubovic kept Ankara close, scoring all the teams points in narrowing the difference to 10-8 (91-76) midway through the opening quarter. However, that is as close as the visitors got, as Ian Vougioukas and Chuck Eidson sparked a run, capped with a fastbreak layup from Goudelock for 21-11 (102-79) at the end of the first quarter. Ankara did not go away, as Plisnic hit a triple and a jumper early in the second, cutting it to 25-20. Harangody hit from behind the arc for Unics, but Aleksandar Rasic replied with another Ankara three-pointer. Plisnic and Kristaps Valters kept it at 35-30, but Zisis, Vougioukas and Goudelock restored a double-digit margin, helping Unics to 43-33 halftime lead, which also meant 124-101 series advantage.
After the break, Goudelock hit a pair of shots for the hosts, but Plisnic and Rasic hit three-pointers, getting Ankara to 47-39. That is when Unics broke the game open. Zisis started things with a jumper, Goudelock followed with a pair of shots, before Kaimakoglou and Tywain McKee joined the party. The latter hit a three-pointer, and so did Goudelock as the hosts extended the it to a huge 67-41 lead, and a 39-point margin in the series. Golubovic and Davud Kamer snapped the run at the end of the third, and Kamer scored couple more baskets in the fourth quarter. But Unics was not letting up defensively, allowing only those Kamer's baskets in the first 9 minutes of the fourth quarter, while Vladimir Veremeenko, Eidson and Zisis kept extending the margin. Harangody nailed his third three-pointer for 88-49, the largest of the night, before Muhammed Baygul and Ali Berent Kavakioglu closed out the scoring
Wednesday, March 26, 2014
Eurocupbasketball.com