Nizhny rallies to upend Galatasaray

Nizhny Novogord completed its regular season in style by coming back from 8 points down with five minutes left to beat Galatasaray Odebank Istanbul 81-75 on Wednesday in Group F. Nizhny Novgorod finished the regular season in third place in Group F with a 6-4 record, while Galatasaray dropped to 7-3, but still finished first. A closing 18-2 run fueled by Dimitry Khvostov, Evgeny Baburin and Victor Rudd gave Nizhny the come-from-behind victory. Khvostov scored 10 of his 20 points in the final quarter, Baburin added 12, Semen Antonov posted 11 and Victor Zaryazhko bagged 10, while Rudd pulled down 11 rebounds in victory. Stephane Lasme led Galatasaray with 16 points and 8 boards, Caleb Green amassed 15 points, 7 rebounds and 5 assists, Vladimir Micov netted 12 and Huseyn Koksal drilled 11 in defeat.

The score was tied four times early in the game, then Ivan Strebkov hit a long three to push his side in front on 19-16, and after Errick McCollum scored a pair from the foul line, Rasid Mahlbasic’s jumper gave the home team a 21-18 margin at the first break. The lead changed hands three times to start the second quarter, then Galatasaray took a slim margin fueled by McCollum and Lasme, who scored after grabbing an offensive rebound with seconds left to the halftime buzzer to fix a 35-39 margin for the guests.

A 10-2 run fueled by the duo of Lasme and McCollum made it 42-53 for Galatasaray four minutes into the third quarter. Nizhny did not give up and went on a 12-3 run to climb within 54-56 on a Strebkov jumper, before Micov hit from the corner to make it 56-61 through three quarters. Huseyn Koksal from downtown and McColluck from the line made it 63-71 at the midway point of the last quarter, but an amazing 18-2 Nizhny run fueled by 8 points from Khvostov gave the home team the victory.