Unics Kazan wins 1st game in Eurocup quarterfinals

In a big battle between old rivals and former 7DAYS EuroCup champions, UNICS Kazan struck first in the best-of-three quarterfinals series by downing Lokomotiv Kuban Krasnodar 94-88 at home in Game 1 on Monday.

UNICS leads the series 1-0 and needs one more victory to reach the semifinals. UNICS hit 19 three-pointers, a new record for the quarterfinals and any EuroCup phase beyond the regular season.

Isaiah Canaan led the winners with 18 points. Jamar Smith added 17, John Holland 16, Okaro White 13, and Jordan Morgan 10 for UNICS. Nigel Williams-Goss paced Lokomotiv with 31 points. Drew Gordon added 15 and Andrei Martiuk 10, while Kevin Hervey had 13 rebounds for the guests. Williams-Goss allowed Lokomotiv to get an 18-29 margin early in the second quarter, but UNICS, led by Canaan, used a rain of three-pointers to take a 51-42 lead at halftime.

The hosts kept a 68-62 edge at the end of the third quarter, but Lokomotiv got within 75-73 soon after that. Holland, Canaan, and White took over in crunch time to make sure UNICS kept the first win of the series.