Strebkov stars as Nizhny holds off Lietkabelis

Nizhny Novgorod secured a Top 16 birth on Wednesday after edging previously-qualified Lietkabelis Panevezys 91-89, then learning later the same night that Cedevita Zagreb beat MZT Skopje Aerodrom. Nizhny has swept Lietkabelis this season and holds 3-3 record, while Lietkabelis dropped to 3-4. Meanwhile, MZT holds 0-6 with two games to play. In a very close affair, neither Nizhny or Lietkabelis held a lead bigger than 6 points entire game, but Nizhny’s 8-0 run in the final three minutes propelled it to victory. Ivan Strebkov scored a career-high 31 points on 4-of-6 shooting from long range and 9-of-9 from the free throw line to pace Nizhny. Deandre Kane collected 16 points and 9 rebounds and Siim-Sander Vene scored 16 with 6 rebounds for Nizhny. Simas Galdikas and Ben Madgen scored 20 apiece for Lietkabelis, with Galdikas also pulling down 8 boards.

Madgen facilitated most of the visitors' offense early, and with help from Galdikas and Lorenzo Williams helped Lietkabelis to a 12-16 lead. But three-pointers from Vene and Petr Gubanov gave Nizhny a 25-24 edge after 10 minutes. A three by Strebkov and his fastbreak basket fueled a 9-0 run to make it 36-30 in the second, but Lietkabelis scored the next 8 points behind Williams and Galdikas to regain a slim margin. Strebkov and Galdikas traded more baskets and the hosts led 47-46 at halftime. The third quarter featured five lead changes and four ties, with neither team gaining more than a 3-point lead during it. Zygimantas Skucas scored 7 points for the visitors, while Strebkov had 8 points for the hosts who entered the fourth quarter up 67-66. Back-to-back threes from Mindaugas Lukauskis and Madgen helped Lietkabelis to a 70-74 lead, but Strebkov and Gubanov answered with back-to-back triples for the hosts to regain the lead. The sides continued trading blows as the game went down to the wire. Vene’s basket gave Nizhny an 84-83 edge going into the final minute and after the hosts made a defensive stand, Strebkov dished inside to Gubanov ,who banked a shot to make it a 3-point affair with 32.3 seconds on the clock, and Nizhny hit its free throws the rest of the way to prevail.