Russia have defeated FYR of Macedonia 63-61 in a thriller to bring the second round in Vilnius to a close.
Leading 60-59 with 41.4 seconds remaining, Bo McCalebb gave the former Yugoslav Republic the lead from the charity stripe, 61-60.
Then with 2.5 seconds on the clock, Sergey Monya banked a triple on the buzzer to send the Russian fans into a frenzy.
In a fast-paced first quarter, the Macedonians raced out to an 8-0 lead. This run shocked the Russians, who were forced into action. Sergey Bykov hit a long two to cut the lead to four at 10-6.
FYR of Macedonia were led by Pero Antic, as he hit 10 points in the opening ten minutes to give his side 20-19 lead.
Russia though hit back, and took a 30-23 lead mid-way through the second thanks a tip-in from Andrey Vorontsevich. The Russians were out-muscling the Macedonians, despite the latter having a big advantage on the glass.
Predrag Samardziski gave the FYR of Macedonia the lead mid-way through the third at 43-41, but Russia went ahead again thanks to Aleksey Shved, before the equalising bucket from Timofey Mozgov.
The fourth went back-and-forth, until the final minute decided it.
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Aleksey Shved led Russia with 14 points. Andrei Kirilenko was held to just two points, on 1/9 shooting.
McCalebb led the FYROM with 16 points.
