Unicaja never trailed on the scoreboard beyond a few minutes in the first quarter, but the victory in the Czech Republic proved more difficult than the final score suggests. BK KVIS Pardubice, which had suffered a clear defeat in its BCL debut in Reggio Emilia, stayed close for half an hour behind three-point shooting, until the Málaga side sealed the game in the third quarter.
The visitors started strong, with a 0-5 run from Tyson Pantzar and Amine Noua. Pardubice responded with a 6-0 run, capped by a three-pointer from Moffatt, and took the lead. It was their only moment in control. The veteran Unicaja core, with Kravish, Kalinoski, and Perry, put together a 0-9 run that returned control to Unicaja, though the Czechs continued scoring easily and the first quarter ended with just a four-point lead for the visitors (17-21).
Noua Breaks Open the Game
Pardubice closed to within two points in the second quarter (28-30) with outside shooting that had been keeping the home side in it. That's when Noua appeared. The French power forward chained three-pointers whenever the game threatened to tie: he answered one from Moffatt with an immediate three-pointer of his own and opened a gap that Perry stretched to ten points (31-41). Key tried to stop the run with a dunk, but a putback from Kravish and a dunk from Noua himself left it at 33-45 at halftime.
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A Third Quarter Without Response
After halftime, Pardubice closed in again (40-49), but Unicaja tightened on defense and found in one play the summary of the game: a block from Jonathan Barreiro, fast break and a 2+1 from Hunt. Willy Hernangómez added from the paint and the lead grew to 16 points (45-61). A three-pointer from Barreiro and another from Bonham, for the home side, closed the third quarter at 48-64.
The final quarter was an uneventful exchange. Bonham and Moffatt tried from three-point range, but a three-pointer from Perry pushed the lead near 20 points, and Noua and Kalinoski took care of closing out the victory. Perry, with 15 points, 7 assists, 3 rebounds and a 21 efficiency rating, was the standout in a Unicaja side that goes to sleep as Group E leader ahead of Wednesday's Reggiana-Utena matchup.