Turkish League, Regular Season, Game 16: January 11-13, 2008
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 Turk Telekom of Ankara outclassed Besiktas Cola Turka 65-86 on the road in Istanbul in a matchup of two of the top ranked teams in the Turkish League. The result sees Telekom move into a three-way tie for second place in the standings, one victory behind leader Galatasaray Cafe Crown, which recorded a road win at Banvit. Chris Williams led Telekom with 23 points and 7 rebounds and Khalid El Amin orchestrated the attack with 11 points, 6 rebounds and 6 assists as the visitors used a 4-23 first-half run to take over and never look back. Meanwhile Galatasaray stormed back from a 13-point third-quarter deficit to beat Banvit of Bandirma 77-80 in Bandirma. Charles Gaines scored 24 points and had 11 rebounds and Dee Brown recorded 16 points and 8 assists to lead Galatasaray, which improved to 13-3. The surprising result of the weekend saw relegation-threatened Oyak Renault of Bursa shock Fenerbahce Ulker on a Monwell Randle triple 6 seconds before the end to win 68-67. Efes Pilsen held off Kepez Belediyesi for a 75-69 victory to rejoin the battle for the top spot at 12-4. Ermal Kuqo finished with 23 points and Ender Arslan had 18 points plus 4 assists for David Blatt’s winning side. In other games, Reha Oz scored a season-high 25 to lead Mersin Buyuksehir Belediye over Alpella 78-81, TTNet Beykoz beat Mutlu Aku Selcuk University 81-86 behind Clarence Gilbert’s season-best 25, Antalya Buyuksehir Belediye pounded Darussafaka 96-77 as Cartier Martin netted 18 points and Pinar Karsiyaka got 41 points and 15 rebounds from Gary Neal and Asim Pars to down CASA TED Kolejliler 81-87.
Turk Telekom of Ankara outclassed Besiktas Cola Turka 65-86 on the road in Istanbul in a matchup of two of the top ranked teams in the Turkish League. The result sees Telekom move into second place in the standings, one victory behind leader Galatasaray Cafe Crown. Telekom also swept the regular-season series from Besiktas and should the two teams meet again in the playoffs, would begin the series with a 1-0 lead. The hosts got off to a strong start as Preston Shumpert and Sandro Nicevic led Besiktas to a 19-12 lead. Telekom soon found its rhythm with Bekir Yarangume, Baris Ozcan and Chris Williams hitting three-pointers to help the visitors to a 23-25 lead at the end of the quarter. Behind the leadership of Khalid El Amin, Telekom continued to improve as Ozcan drilled back-to-back triples and Yarangume added another to cap a 4-23 run good for a 25-38 lead. Shumpert and Rick Apodaca tried to keep Besiktas in the game, but Tutku Acik’s triple at the buzzer ended the first half at 42-52. Besiktas had Kaya Peker and Nicevic at the beginning of the second half scoring in the paint and with the help of aggressive defense, the home side cut the difference to 5 points. But the duo of Williams and Erwin Dudley responded well and the Ankara side went ahead 59-67 at the end of the period. Haluk Yildirim opened the score with a triple at the beginning of the last quarter and it was enough to break the resistance of the Besiktkas defense for the rest of the time. El Amin and Yildirim cooled down the game while the visitors increased the lead to 23 points on an Adem Oren layup en route to victory. Williams led Telekom with 23 points and 7 rebounds, Yarangume had 14 points, Dudley scored 12 points and grabbed 8 boards and El Amin had 11 points, 6 rebounds and 6 assists. Nicevic led Besiktas with 18 points and Shumpert scored 16.
The surprising result of the weekend saw relegation-threatened Oyak Renault of Bursa shock Fenerbahce Ulker on a Monwell Randle triple 6 seconds before the end to win 68-67. The home team for the first three periods (22-16, 40-34, 51-45), but Fenerbahce jumped ahead 60-62 on Damir Kaan points 90 seconds before the end. Fener kept control until the last seconds, but Randle’s breathtaking three-pointer stunned the defending champs and allowed the home to celebrate an unexpected win.It was the fifth win for Oyak Renault this season as Andre Woolridge led the home team with 18 points, Ozgur Biyik scored 16, Nedim Dal had 13 and Randle finished with just 5. Willie Solomon paced Fener with 17 points, 7 rebounds and 6 assists, while Emir Preldzic added 11 points.
Efes Pilsen made a speedy start to its game with Kepez Belediyesi of Antalya and held on for a 75-69 victory. Efes led 19-10 after 10 minutes and behind Ermal Kuqo and Ender Arslan went ahead 39-31 at halftime. Kepez fought back through Lorenzo Gordon in the third quarter, but Efes remained in control and led 56-49 at the end of the period. Tomaslav Ruzic and Gordon started to shake Efes in the last quarter and Ruzic made it 70-69 with just 34 seconds to play. However the duo of the day, Kuqo and Arslan, stood up and Efes won the game. Kuqo finished with 23 points, Arslan had 18 points plus 4 assists and Andre Hutson scored 9. Gordon posted 32 points plus 11 rebounds and Ruzic and Keith Simmons scored 11 each in defeat.
Galatasaray Cafe Crown came back from a 13-point third-quarter deficit to beat Banvit of Bandirma 77-80 in Bandirma. The league leaders were without injured center Huseyin Besok once again. Charles Gaines shined early as Galatasaray took an early 4-12 lead, but a 16-4 response ended the first quarter with Banvit up 20-16. The hosts used a good start to the second quarter and extended the lead to 35-22 through Joe Crispin, Kenny Adeleke and Chris Hill and ended the first half ahead 41-34. Banvit controlled the third quarter with Adeleke and Umit Sonkol scoring most of its points to enter the last period leading 60-53. Galatasaray tried it hard in the last quarter with Gaines and Chris Owens attacking in the paint and finally tied the game at 71-71 with Murat Kaya’s three-pointer 108 seconds before the end. Banvit regained the lead with Sonkol and Donnell Harvey scoring, but 6 points from Owens and Gaines put Galatasaray ahead with 20 seconds to go. The tactical fouls didn’t help Banvit to change the destiny of the game as Galatasaray celebrated a very important road win. Gaines scored 24 points and had 11 rebounds to lead Galatasaray, Dee Brown recorded 16 points and 8 assists, Cuneyt Erden added 14 points and Owens had 12 points, 8 boards and 4 steals. Sonkol scored 15 to lead Banvit, Adeleke added 14, Crispin 13 and Hill 12.
LAST GAME GAME 16
January 11-13, 2008 | | Day | Match | Result | | Jan. 12 | Oyak vs. Fenerbahce Ulker | 68-67 | | Jan. 12 | Antalya vs. Darussafaka | 96-77 | | Jan. 11 | Mutlu Aku vs. TTNetBeykoz | 81-86 | | Jan. 13 | Banvit vs. Galatasaray | 77-80 | | Jan. 12 | Besiktas C. Turka vs. Turk | 65-86 | | Jan. 13 | Efes Pilsen vs. Kepez Bld. | 75-69 | | Jan. 12 | Alpella vs. Mersin BSB. | 78-81 | | Jan. 12 | CASA TED vs. Pinar | 81-87 |
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NEXT GAME GAME 17
January 19-20, 2008 | | Day | Match | | Jan. 19 | Pinar vs. Besiktas C. Turka | | Jan. 20 | Darussafaka vs. Alpella | | Jan. 20 | Fenerbahce Ulker vs. Efes | | Jan. 19 | Mersin BSB. vs. CASA TED | | Jan. 19 | Antalya vs. Galatasaray | | Jan. 20 | TTNet Beykoz vs. Oyak | | Jan. 19 | Kepez Bld. vs. Banvitspor | | Jan. 19 | Turk Telekom vs. M. Aku |
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| STANDINGS | TG | W | L | P+ | P- | | 1 | Galatasaray Cafe Crown | 16 | 13 | 3 | 1242 | 1109 | | 2 | TÜRK Telekom | 16 | 12 | 4 | 1467 | 1263 | | 3 | Beşiktaş Cola Turka | 16 | 12 | 4 | 1317 | 1172 | | 4 | Efes Pilsen | 16 | 12 | 4 | 1332 | 1169 | | 5 | Fenerbahçe Ülker | 16 | 11 | 5 | 1308 | 1213 | | 6 | Pinar Karşiyaka | 16 | 10 | 6 | 1388 | 1332 | | 7 | Antalya Bşb. | 16 | 9 | 7 | 1239 | 1269 | | 8 | Kepez Belediye | 16 | 8 | 8 | 1208 | 1203 | | 9 | Mersin Büyükşehir Bld. | 16 | 7 | 9 | 1164 | 1220 | | 10 | Banvit | 16 | 7 | 9 | 1267 | 1234 | | 11 | Alpella | 16 | 6 | 10 | 1154 | 1260 | | 12 | TTNet Beykoz | 16 | 5 | 11 | 1168 | 1267 | | 13 | Mutlu Akü Selçuk Üniv. | 16 | 5 | 11 | 1230 | 1363 | | 14 | Oyak Renault | 16 | 5 | 11 | 1050 | 1161 | | 15 | Casa TED A. Kolejliler | 16 | 4 | 12 | 1225 | 1335 | | 16 | Darüşşafaka | 16 | 2 | 14 | 1125 | 1314 |
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Gökhan Türe, Istanbul
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