MALAGA (Spain) - Unicaja continued their strong play this season in the Basketball Champions League with a 93-69 victory over Nizhny Novgorod, securing their spot at the top of Group C and in the Round of 16.

Unicaja are the fifth team to clinch their spot in the Round of 16, joining BAXI Manresa (Group B), MHP Riesen Ludwigsburg (Group A), Galatasaray Nef (Group E) and Tofas Bursa (Group F).

In Unicaja's four wins, they have beaten their opponents by an average margin of 21.5 points, while on the other hand, this loss tonight was Nizhny's biggest defeat in the BCL.

Turning point: After trailing 17-15 after the first quarter, things turned around, as Unicaja came out and outscored Niznhy 23-8 in the second quarter, giving them a 38-25 lead at halftime.

Nizhny's 25 points were the fewest they have scored in a first half in the BCL.

The scoring picked up for both teams in the third quarter, as Unicaja once again outscored Nizhny 27-25.

Unicaja kept their foot on the gas in the fourth quarter, outscoring Nizhny 28-19.

Game hero: Michael Eric shot a perfect 9-of-9 from the field and finished with 19 points and 7 rebounds and a game-high efficiency rating of 24.

His nine shots were the most for a player with 100% field goal percentage in a BCL game since January 2020 (TaShawn Thomas, 10/10 v RASTA Vechta).

The 33-year-old big man threw down a dunk after this beautiful fast break with one dribble where all five players touched the ball:

Stats don't lie: Despite grabbing three fewer offensive rebounds than Nizhny (7-10), Unicaja were able to outscore them 10-6 in second chance points.

Unicaja had the advantage over Nizhny in points from the bench (49-32) with Axel Bouteille (20 points), Ruben Guerrero (9 points), Francis Alonso (8 points) and Dario Brizuela (6 points) combining for 43 of those points.

There was also a big advantage for Unicaja (10-of-23) in three-point shooting, as they outscored Nizhny (3-of-18) by 21 points from deep.

Bottom line: Unicaja are now 4-1 and have secured the top spot in Group C and their spot Round of 16.

The Spanish club will travel to face Lavrio Megabolt in their final group play game on December 21.

Nizhny are now 1-4 and remain in fourth place in the group.

The Russian club will host JDA Dijon in their final group play game on December 21.

If Nizhny win that last game and Lavrio lose to Unicaja, Nizhny will find their way into the Play-In, as they would own the tiebreak over Lavrio if the two teams end up tied.

They said: