By Johnny Askounis/ info@eurohoops.net
Unicaja Malaga advanced to the Basketball Champions League Round of 16 after the convincing win, 93-69, versus Nizhny Novgorod Wednesday evening. In addition, the Andalusian club marching to victory pushed JDA Dijon into the Play-In Round.
French small forward Axel Bouteille poured a game-high 20 points behind 8/11 field goals and Micheal Eric added 19 points through a perfect 9/9 shots, all from inside the arc.
Scoring outbursts helped, but the effective defense was key for the team coached by Fotis Katsikaris. After a tight first quarter, the hosts allowed only eight points in the second quarter of the Regular Season Gameday 5 fixture. With a comfortable lead in place, it was smooth sailing the rest of the way.
Jaime Fernandez chipped in 13 points, eight assists, two rebounds, and one steal, while two-time NBA champion Norris Cole ended up with ten points. Captain Carlos Suarez threw in four points, five assists, four rebounds, three steals, and one block in just under 15 minutes.
Ivan Strebkov, Mikhail Kulagin, and Anton Astapkovich shared a team-high 12 points for the visiting team at Palacio de Deportes Jose Maria Martin Carpena. Injured Evgeny Baburin remained out.
Standing at 6-7 in Spain’s ACB, Unicaja went up to 4-1 to clinch the top seed in Group C. After falling to 1-4, the team coached by Zoran Lukic will be looking for a home win against Dijon and also Malaga taking down Lavrio Megabolt in Greece to make the Play-In Round next Tuesday.
Postgame press conference:
Photo Credit: Basketball Champions League