KAZAN (Euroleague) - No team went into this week’s Turkish Airlines Euroleague on the verge of elimination yet several sides were in desperate need of wins to bolster their hopes of reaching the Top 16.

In Group A, Unics Kazan and Dinamo Banco di Sardegna Sassari each had a single victory from five games, and both Cedevita Zagreb and Limoges CSP were 1-4 in Group B.

Group C had a pair of 1-4 teams in FC Bayern Munich and PGE Turow Zgorzelec, while in Group D, Valencia Basket were  1-4.

On Thursday night, Unics Kazan, who only just parted with coach Argyris Pedoulakis and put Russia’s national team boss Evgeny Pashutin in charge, clinched a vital 67-64 home triumph over a red-hot Anadolu Efes.

Unics’ big summer signing, Keith Langford, had 19 points and the club charged back from a double-digit deficit in the fourth quarter to stun an Efes team that had beaten Real Madrid last week.

"This win matters a lot with a view to qualifying for the Top 16," Pashutin said. 

The Unics squad is deep and talented and has the capacity to beat any opponent in the Euroleague.

In Week 2 at home to Real Madrid, the Russian outfit would have claimed a very important win had Sergio Llull not buried a game-winning jumper in the closing seconds.

Now Unics will try to turn the tables on Madrid when they meet in Spain next week.

To do that, Pashutin says something important has to happen.

"We have strong players on our roster, and it is very important for them to become a team," he said.

In addition to Langford, there are Curtis Jerrells, D’or Fischer, Pavel Antipov, Kostas Kaimakoglou, Dmitry Sokolov, Petr Guvanov, Viktor Sanikidze, Vadim Panin, Valeriy Likhodey, Sergey Bykov, Nikos Zisis and James White.

Fischer, a former Madrid player, had 16 points and nine rebounds against Efes while Greece international Kaimakoglou had four steals to go with his 10 points.

Against Efes, there seemed to be a drive and willingness to give everything that had not been apparent in previous games.

Pashutin praised Sokolov, who plays for Russia’s national team.

"Sokolov sacrificed a tooth in order not to give an opportunity for the opponents to score," Pashutin said. 

"Maybe this prevented points for them in a decisive moment, which helped us to win."

Thursday was not kind to Bayern, who gave Bo McCalebb his club debut but still crashed to a 99-77 defeat at home to Barcelona.

McCalebb, just two of eight from the floor with four points, did not make excuses.

"We came out and listened to what the coach told us and Barcelona hit some shots and won the game," he said. 

"Now we have to watch film and be better for next time. I’ve been playing in the Euroleague for six years.

"I just got here two days ago. That’s not an excuse. I’m here to try to help this team win."

Pesic hasn’t lost hope.

"We are fighting ourselves," he said. 

"We are trying to find a rhythm. We have to find that, then we will have some success."

Turow also fell at home, losing 79-69 to Panathinaikos.

Limoges slumped to a 79-73 defeat at home to Maccabi Tel Aviv and just as the case was in Bayern’s lost to Barcelona, the second quarter was their undoing.

Maccabi went from trailing 21-19 at the end of the first quarter to leading 42-35 at half-time.

Limoges had 18 turnovers.

"We lost some balls," Limoges guard Leo Westermann said. "It’s difficult for us to win at a level where every ball is important."

Valencia Basket experienced more frustration against Olympiacos.

Having lost at home to the Greek giants in the closing seconds on 16 October, the Spanish club fell in Piraeus, 77-76.

New signing Nemanja Nedovic of Serbia attempted to score with a drive to the basket in the last few seconds but met a wall of defenders and was denied a game-winning shot.

Valencia had one more chance with 1.3 seconds to go and Nedovic hit a jump shot but the ball left his hands after the final buzzer.

Like the other teams with just a single win, Valencia are running out of time and will go into next week’s home game playing with a sense of urgency.

Sassari host Nizhny in a crunch game on Friday for the two struggling teams and Cedevita are playing at Unicaja.

Also in action will be Galatasaray at home to Crvena Zvezda and Madrid take on Zalgiris in Kaunas, Lithuania.

FIBA