Bo McCalebb leads Montepaschi Siena to a 79-71 victory over Unics – Euroleague Recap
After a shaky start, Montepaschi Siena got going in the second half and beat Unics 79-71 on October 19, 2011 in Kazan, Russia. It was the first game of the Turkish Airlines Euroleague regular season for both teams.
The game was decided in the third quarter, when Siena launched a barrage of three pointers to seize the initiative and eventually a double digit lead.
Bo McCalebb was the high scorer for the Siena with 17 points and four assists. He shot a perfect 8 for 8 from free throw line. Guard Rimantas Kaukenas was dominant with 14 points, five rebounds and four steals while David Andersen
ended the night with 13 points and five rebounds.
For Unics, Henry Domercant had a monster night with a Euroleague career-high 30 points, including 16 in the second half. Nathan Jawai also added 11 points narrowly missed a double-double with nine rebounds in his 18 minutes on
the court.
Unics jumped to an early lead and led Siena by 24-20 at the end of the first quarter. They continued to build upon their advantage in the second quarter and were leading by as many as 11 with just three minutes to go in the break.
However, Siena responded swiftly and reeled off a 14-4 run in the period that followed and went into the break with a single point deficit at 44-43.
They continued the momentum in the third quarter and started with a 7-2 run. From there on, it was a one way traffic and courtesy a combination of missed shots from the Unics and some offensive brilliance from Montepaschi, the
two sides headed for the deciding quarter at 64-55, advantage Siena.
“We started the game well, but lost initiative in the third quarter when we missed a number of sure balls. Our opponents played intelligent basketball and we did not, especially in the third quarter," Unics coach Evgeny Pashutin
said after the game.
The game was evenly contested in the fourth frame. Unics tried hard to mount a comeback, but every effort they made towards doing that was met with some resolute resistance from Siena. The quarter finished on 16-15 in favour of
Unics, however it was not enough to get them a shot at the win.
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