Qualifying Round C, Game 1 report: Unics Kazan 88-66 Hapoel Jerusalem
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 Unics Kazan downed Hapoel Jerusalem 88-66 and built an impressive margin heading into the second leg game in the Israeli capital next Tuesday. Terrell Lyday nailed 4 of 9 from downtown to lead five Unics scorers in double digits with 17 points. Dmitry Sokolov added 16, Tariq Kirksay had 15 and Vladimir Veremeenko and Kresimir Loncar chipped in with 13 points apiece for the hosts. Veremeenko also grabbed 11 rebounds, while Marko Popovic paced Kazan's offence with 7 assists. Hapoel failed to take advantage of winning the rebound battle 30-37, as Unics made 11 triples and dished 17 assists to Hapoel's single three and 7 team-assists. After the hosts built a 10-point lead in the first quarter behind 10 points from Sokolov and 7 points from Kirksay, Hapoel managed to withstand the hit and was only down by 7 - a satisfying result before the game in Jerusalem - with 12 minutes to go. But UNICS burned the visitors with 29 points in the fourth period en route to a 22-point victory. Timmy Bowers led Hapoel with 18 points, Travis Watson powered his way to a double double of 14 points and 10 rebounds and Yuval Naimy added 11 points.
Unics started strong on the defensive end, keeping Hapoel scoreless in the opening three-and-a-half minutes. Meanwhile, a red-hot Sokolov and a three-point play by Veremeenko gave the hosts a 9-0 margin. Omar Sneed finally got Hapoel on the scoreboard with a lay-up and an aggressive Watson forced Unics to foul him on consecutive possessions. He converted on his fourth and fifth free throw of the period to cut it down to 18-12. But Kirksay and Lyday made a bucket each to give Unics a double digit lead, 22-12, after the first quarter. Both teams had trouble scoring in the beginning of the second period, combining for only 6 points in the first four minutes. But then Rahshon Clark dunked the ball for Hapoel to start an exchange of scoring, and while the visitors had success going inside, Unics kept answering from downtown. Lyday nailed his second and Kazan's fifth triple of the period to make it 41-28 with two minutes left before the break. Hapoel got a little closer before Sokolov finished the first half with another shot to freeze it at 43-31.
After Veremeenko scored 5 points to spark a 7-4 Unics run in the beginning of the third quarter, Hapoel answered with an excellent 0-8 surge to get the deficit to 50-43. Then Unics went on a run and outscored Hapoel 9-2, as Kirksay and Loncar capped the run with a triple and a dunk, before Erez Markovich scored his sixth point of the period on the other end to make it 59-47 with 10 minutes to go. Hapoel went to work inside and cut the lead to 10 once again, before Kirksay hit a three and added a layup. After Watson split 2 free throws for Hapoel, Kirksay found space for his third triple of the game to give Unics the largest lead of the night at 69-52 with 6:26 left on the clock. However, Kiksay missed his next 2 three-point attempts, while Bowers finally made one from downtown for Hapoel. The lead seemed to stabilize at about 15, but Loncar scored 4 and Vermeenko burned Hapoel with another triple in a span of only 43 seconds. Now it was 81-60 with two minutes to go, and the visitors’ coach Guy Goode called for a time-out, knowing that a 20-point lead would be extremely difficult to overcome in the return game in Jerusalem. But it was too late, and it didn't help much when Clark missed 2 of 3 free throws. On the other end Popovic hit 3 of 4 from the line for Unics for the final result, 88-66.
GAME QUOTES
Unics Kazan head coach Aco Petrovic:
"It was difficult to play after this game, as we had just lost at home against Khimki in the Russian League. I am glad that we won the game. We played good defense. Now we are going to prepare for the second leg in Israel."
Unics Kazan guard Evgeniy Voronov:
"The 22-point lead we got in the series is quite good, but I am sure it will more difficult to play against Hapoel in Jerusalem. Hapoel has very strong players and a good coach."
Hapoel Jerusalem head coach Guy Goodes:
"We knew already that Unics Kazan is a very strong team. Unics deserves to play in the Euroleague. I hope we will win the series in the second leg in Israel. Our fans will help us to win."
Hapoel Jerusalem guard Yuval Naimy:
"Hapoel is the kind of team that never gives up. We are going to play better in Jerusalem, much better than tonight. We all expect to succeed at home."
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Tuesday, November 04, 2008
Eurocupbasketball.com
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