NAHARIYA (Basketball Champions League) – Ironi Nahariya were made to work hard by Tsmoki Minsk on Thursday night but snatched a 71-67 victory 48 hours after their 70-66 win on the road, to secure the remaining spot in Regular Season Group A.

The hosts started off strong and built a 28-14 cushion with eight minutes remaining to the interval, but Minsk did not plan to go away so easily. The Belarus champions balanced the battle on the boards late in the second frame and begun to climb their way back to tie the scores at 44-all midway through the third frame.

The two teams exchanged blows from then on and the game featured 15 lead changes and 7 ties, but Gilbert Brown came up with a huge offensive rebound 36 seconds from the final buzzer and pushed the hosts ahead 68-67.

Minsk fluffed their lines on the other end, turned the ball over and Stuart Douglass found the perfect time to score his only points in the game as he knocked down a triple to make 71-67 with less than 10 seconds on the clock.

Brown finished with a near double-double of 18 points and nine boards while Yancy Gates chipped in with 14 points. For Minsk, who will continue now in the FIBA Europe Cup, Dru Joyce had 17 points and seven assists in a losing effort.