Gubanov’s game-winner lifts Nizhny to first win

Petr Gubanov hit a three-pointer with 0.6 seconds to go to lead Nizhny Novgorod ​ ​​past​​ ​ Lietkabelis Panevezys ​ ​72​-​75​ on​ Wednesday ​ at ​ Cido Arena ​ in ​Round ​3​​ of the 7DAYS EuroCup ​Regular Season​. ​ Nizhny ​raised its record to​ ​1​-​1, while ​ Lietkabelis ​​​was handed​ its ​first defeat​ and​ saw its record ​drop​ to ​2​-​1​. Gubanov ​​​shined​​ with 20​ points for the winners. Deandre ​ Kane ​ ​added ​​17​ points and ​11 rebounds.​​ Ivan ​Strebkov ​ followed with ​11​ points. ​​For ​ Lietkabelis​,​ Ksistof ​ Lavrinovic ​​led the way​ with ​17​ points and ​also ​pulled down ​a team-high ​10​ rebounds​.​ Mindaugas Lukauskis ​ added ​13​ points and ​​ Zygimantas ​ Skucas 11​​. ​​

Neither team built a lead bigger than 5 points in the first half. Ksistof Lavrinovic paced the hosts early on, and his triple opened up 21-16 at the start of the second quarter. Kane and Strebkov replied for Nizhny, and put together a run that put the visitors ahead, 30-35, but the hosts quickly hit back, and went in to halftime up 41-49. Simas Galikas made it 58-51 late in the third quarter, but Nizhny scored the next 9 points and went on a 2-15 run to regain the lead and go up 60-66. Lietkabelis immediately caught up with back-to-back threes from Lukauskis, as the game went down to the wire. Nizhny had last possession with 11.5 seconds before the end, and Gubanov pulled up and hit a triple with 0.6 seconds left, giving Nizhny its premier win of this EuroCup campaign.

​Nizhny ​​​stays at home​​ to face ​ MZT Skopje Aerodrom ​ in its next EuroCup game. ​ Lietkabelis ​ ​goes on​ the road​ to ​play​ ​ Herbalife Gran Canaria Las Palmas​.