KAUNAS (Turkish Airlines Euroleague) - BC Zalgiris, Niznhy Novgorod and Galatasaray snatched the last three places on offer for the Turkish Airlines Euroleague Top 16.

On Friday night, Nizhny hosted Unics Kazan in a Group A contest.

Getting 23 points from Tarence Kinsey and hitting 17 of 38 three-pointers as a team, Niznhy prevailed 78-74 to seal their place in the next phase of the competition.

Kinsey says that Niznhy need to take advantage of the opportunity they have given themselves.

"Making it to the Top 16 was the whole goal," he said.

"I expect nothing but the best and now I expect us to make it to the playoffs. 

"We have to take one game at a time and one practice at a time. Nothing is impossible. We have to dream big."  

Making Niznhy's success all the more impressive is that they have won their last two games without the Euroleague's leading scorer, injured guard Taylor Rochestie.

"I am proud of our fans, the people in this gym and for this city," Niznhy coach Ainars Bagatskis said.

On Thursday, Valencia Basket thumped Neptunas Klaipeda, 103-65, to give Gala a chance to progress.

To do so, they had to beat Olympiacos and that's exactly what happened.

Getting 24 points from Carlos Arroyo, the Turkish outfit prevailed 79-74 and leapfrogged Neptunas into fourth place in Group D.

Zalgiris, Nizhny and Unics each finished with 5-5 records but the first two progressed on a tie-breaker.

The Top 16 tips off on 30 December with games between Galatasaray and Zalgiris and Panathinaikos against Maccabi Tel Aviv.

FIBA