Turkish League Semifinals, Game 1: May 26, 2009 - TURKEY

May 18, 2013

Turkish League Semifinals, Game 1: May 26, 2009

The Turkish League semifinals started with just one game, as Efes Pilsen already has a 1-0 lead against Galatasaray Cafe Crown by winning both teams' regular season showdowns. Fenerbahce Ulker stole the home court advantage in its best-of-five semifinal series by edging Turk Telekom 81-86 in Ankara on Tuesday. Marques Green led the winners with 16 points. Willie Solomon added 15, Mirsad Turkcan had 14 and 9 rebounds while Damir Mrsic and Oguz Savas each got 11 points for FB Ulker. Khalid El-Amin led Telekom with 30 points on 6-for-11 three-pointers. Bekir Yarangume added 13 while Erwin Dudley and Kenan Bajramovic each had 11 for the hosts, that trallied from a double-digit deficit to get a 54-52 edge late in the third quarter. Mrsic and Green struck from downtown in a 2-15 run that sealed the outcome, allowing Fenerbahce to get closer to the finals.

Yarangume and Barjamovic fueled a 7-2 opening run for Telekom, but a four-point play by Solomon soon brought Fener within 10-9. Mrsic buried back-to-back triples and got some help from Emir Preldzic and Solomon to make the guests keep a 19-21 edge after 10 minutes. Savas and Solomon combined for all points in a 0-8 run that boosted Fener's lead to 21-29 early in the second quarter. Fener kept feeding their big men, as Savas, Semih Erden and Omer Asik soon helped the guests to make it an 11-point game, 26-37. Dudley, El-Amin and a triple by Bajramovic brought Telekom back to life, 39-42, immediately after the break. Turkcan tok over with back-to-back three-pointers but an outstanding El-Amin completed the hosts' comeback, 54-52. Turkcan and Green stepped up for Telekom while Mrsic downed one from downtown to restore a double-digit FB Ulker edge, 63-73, with 6 minutes to go. Green soon broke the game open, 63-78, after a 2-15 run. Telekom only rallied once the outcome was clear.

Semifinals Playoffs, best of 5 games

Record	Team	Game 1	Game 2	Game 3	Game 4	Game 5
1	Efes Pilsen (1)	W*	May 27	May 30	*-	*-
0	Galatasaray Cafe Crown (4)	L*	-	-	-	-
0	Turk Telekom (2)	81	May 28	May 31	*-	*-
1	Fenerbahce Ulker (3)	86	-	-	-	-

*In Turkey, if one team won both regular season games between them,
their playoff series begins 1-0 in that team's favor.

Semifinals Playoffs round games
Game 1	Turk Telekom vs. Fenerbahce Ulker	81-86	May 26
Game 2	Efes Pilsen vs. Galatasaray Cafe Crown	-	May 27
Game 2	Turk Telekom vs. Fenerbahce Ulker	-	May 28
Game 3	Galatasaray Cafe Crown vs. Efes Pilsen	-	May 30
Game 3	Fenerbahce Ulker vs. Turk Telekom	-	May 31
Game 4	Galatasaray Cafe Crown vs. Efes Pilsen	-	*-
Game 4	Fenerbahce Ulker vs. Turk Telekom	-	*-
Game 5	Efes Pilsen vs. Galatasaray Cafe Crown	-	*-
Game 5	Turk Telekom vs. Fenerbahce Ulker	-	*-