Terrell Lyday leads as Unics thump Union Olimpija 81-51 – Euroleague Recap
Unics recorded their first home victory of the Turkish Euroleague regular season on November 17 by routing Union Olimpija 81-51. It was Unics’ second consecutive victory in Group D, good enough for a 3-2 record, while Olimpija
dropped to 1-4 after a second straight loss.
Terrell Lyday was the big gun for Unics on the night, with a season-high 22 points that included 7 for 8 shooting from two-point range. Lyday also dished out seven assists and grabbed four rebounds in the victory.
Mike Wilkinson followed Lyday with 20 points on an impressive 4 for 5 shooting from downtown and also grabbed five rebounds. Wilkinson chipped in 13 of his points in the third quarter as Unics outscored Olimpija 22-5.
Vladimir Veremeenko replaced Nate Jawai at the centre position and ended with 11 points and four rebounds.
Ratko Varda paced Union Olimpija with 13 points on 5 for 7 shooting from two point range and grabbed three rebounds. No other Olimpija player reached double figures. Ben Woodside came closest with eight points, five rebounds and
two assists.
Unics finished with a 22 for 39 shooting (56.4 percent) from two-point range, 11 for 25 (44 percent) from three-point range, and 4 for 5 (80 percent) from free throw line. Olimpija, meanwhile, could not find their rhythm and shot
below 50 percent in all three categories.
It was all about the Union Olimpija Ljubljana early as they scored the first seven points of the opening period, but by the time the first period ended, the gap reduced to only 20-18.
Unics tied the score early in the second quarter and established a seven-point lead, 32-25, with five minutes remaining in the first half. The difference was maintained till halftime and then in the third quarter, Unics unleashed
their offensive fury and raced onto a 61-39 lead. The visitors were thrashed 22-5 in the period and that was what sealed the game.
Leading by 22-points, Unics did not stop their assault and went on to outscore Olimpija 20-12.
Union Olimpija Head Coach Saso Filipovski was left disappointed by the second half play of his team;
"Congratulations to Unics, first of all. As for our game, we had a pretty good first half, and then in the second one we were a completely different team. Defensively we were not aggressive at all, and in offense we couldn’t score
many open three-pointers. We should forget the game as soon as possible, since our second half was the worst one we had had this season."
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