BC Lietkabelis lost to Nizhny
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.
