Dovis Bickauskis hit the game-winner with 2.2 seconds left
Lietkabelis shocks Cluj with 92-91 comeback win, keeps Cluj from advancing
7Bet-Lietkabelis Panevezys rallied from 12 points down in the fourth quarter to knock off U-BT Cluj-Napoca 92-91 at home and keep the guests from locking up a playoff spot. Lietkabelis was down 71-83 with 5 minutes to play but fought all the way back, before Dovis Bickauskis hit the game winner with 2.2 seconds left. The Lithuanian side, which had already been eliminated from postseason contention, snapped a four-game losing streak to move to 5-12 in Group B.
Bickauskis finished with 13 points, Oleksandr Kovliar led the way with 18 points, Djordje Gagic had 17 points, and Martynas Varnas collected 10 points, 10 rebounds and 6 assists. Cluj would have secured a spot in the playoffs with a win but fell to 10-8 after having won three of its last four games. Zavier Simpson scored 24 points with 10 assists, Adam Mokoka had 15 points and De’Shawn Stephens chipped in 12 points and 9 rebounds in the bitter defeat.
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After Lietkabelis went up 4-2 early, Simpson scored five points in a 2-10 run to put Cluj 6-12 ahead. The hosts countered with a 16-3 run over more than 4 minutes to take a 22-15 lead. The guests scored the final five points of the first quarter and trailed 22-20.
Neither team could pull away in the second quarter, with Cluj putting together a 2-9 spurt to make it 27-31. Lietkabelis hit back by scoring the next five points for the first of six straight lead changes, yet Cluj held a 36-40 advantage. Cluj added the final five points of the second half to make it 40-47 at the break.
Lietkabelis scored the first five points of the second half to make it a one-possession ballgame, 45-47. DJ Seeley drained two three-pointers as Cluj punched back with 10 straight points in 89 seconds to surge 45-57 ahead. Lietkabelis scored consistently after that but could not put together defensive stops, with the hosts trailing 57-69. However, they answered with nine points in 42 seconds to make it 66-69, but trailed 66-72 after 30 minutes.
Lietkabelis was down 69-74 when Cluj seemed to put the game away with a 2-9 spurt to go 71-83 ahead with 5 minutes to play. The hosts were not done just yet, with a 7-1 burst making it 78-84. Gagic added a three-point play and tip-in, and Bickauskis tied it at 90-90 by knocking down a three-pointer with 40 seconds remaining. Seeley could only split two free throws with 20 seconds remaining, allowing Bickauskis to score the game-winning basket with a running floater with 2.2 seconds left.