Cedevita holds off Nizhny for sixth straight win, second place in Group A

Cedevita never trailed, but had to hold off Nizhny Novgorod in a dramatic finish for an 82-84 victory on the road on Wednesday. Cedevita notched its sixth consecutive win and clinched second place in Group A with a 6-2 record. Nizhny finishes the regular season third with a 4-4 record. Cedevita built a big early lead as Miro Bilan dominated inside and Marko Tomas hit from long range. The visitors led by 17 points multiple times in the third and fourth quarters. But in the final eight minutes, Kenny Boynton hit 5 three-pointers for the hosts and his last triple with 1:11 to go tied the game for the first time at 82-82. But Cedevita prevailed and carries its winning streak into the Top 16. Tomas hit 4 of 7 from long range for 20 points and also had 6 rebounds. Bilan added 19 points on 9-for-10 two point shooting. Ra’Shad James scored 15 and Ryan Boatright had 11 points, 7 assists, 5 rebounds and 3 blocks in victory. Boynton shot 7 of 11 from three-point land and scored 31 points along with 6 assists and 6 rebounds. Deandre Kane had 14 and Maxim Grigoryev 10 points in defeat.

Bilan scored the first 6 points of the game, and with help from Karlo Zganec and Tomas, the visitors opened a 7-20 lead after only eight minutes. Petr Gubanov hit a three and Boynton had 9 first-quarter points, but Nizhny only managed to cut it to 12-24 at the end of the opening quarter. Cedevita kept the margin with back-to-back threes from Tomas, and after Kane and Ilya Popov got Nizhny within 7 points, the visitors stepped up defensively and restored a 13-point margin. After going into halftime up 31-42, a three from Boatright and fastbreak basket from Wright opened a 37-51 margin in the third. Kane fought for the hosts to cut the deficit, but a pair of three-pointers from Tomas, and a corner three from John Shurna made it 47-64 late in the third. Shurna's second triple had Cedevita up 56-73 with eight minutes to go, but Boynton sparked things with 3 triples that cut the deficit to 71-77. Boynton hit again from downtown and Siim-Sander Vene's dunk got Nizhny within 79-80 with two minutes to go before Boynton's seventh three tied it at 82-82 with 71 seconds left. But the hosts did not score again and Cedevita saw Bilan and James secure the win from the free throw line.