Turkish League, Regular Season, Game 19: February 1-3, 2008 - TURKEY

July 06, 2009

Turkish League, Regular Season, Game 19: February 1-3, 2008

Efes Pilsen defeated Turk Telekom 92-93 in Ankara to create a four-way tie for the best record in the Turkish League after 19 games. Besiktas Cola Turka and Galatasaray Cafe Crown took advantage to join Efes and Telekom at 14-5 in the standings. Meanwhile defending champion Fenerbahce Ulker remained one-game back after getting upset by Antalya Buyuksehir Belediyesi. Ermal Kuqo and Gonlum scored 16 points and grabbed 6 rebounds each to lead Efes, which lost at home to Telekom earlier this season. Besiktas beat Mersin Buyuksehir Belediyesi 77-84 on the road behind Kaya Peker’s 23 points and had 10 boards. Galatasaray trashed CASA TED Kolejliler 89-71 as Robert Hite came through with 18 points and 8 rebounds. Fenerbahce lost to Antalya Buyuksehir Belediyesi 82-71 on the road after Willie Solomon fouled out early in the fourth quarter. Marcus Douthit led Antalya with 19 points plus 8 rebounds. In other games, Darussafaka outscored Pinar Karsiyaka 109-99 behind 32 points from Eric Chatfield. Gary Neal carried Karsiyaka with 27 points, 6 rebounds and 5 assists in his last game with the club. Tomislav Ruzic recorded 17 points and 14 rebounds to lead Kepez Belediye over Alpella 73-60, Mutlu Aku Selcuk University beat Oyak Renault 72-62 as Kerim Umut Yenice scored 21 and TTNet Beykoz got 30 from Clarence Gilbert to dump Banvit 95-70.

Efes Pilsen matched Turk Telekom for the best record in the Turkish League with a 92-93 road win in Ankara. Efes avenged a 71-86 loss in Istanbul earlier this season and avoided being swept, which would have carried a penalty of one loss should the teams have met in the playoffs at the end of the season. Efes had a strong start to the game with Kerem Gonlum and Andre Hutson scoring inside to take a 12-15 lead after 10 minutes. Telekom responded well in the beginning of the second period and took its first and only lead in the game with an Ivica Jurkovic triple that made it 17-15. But Efes stayed resistant and the duo of Drew Nicholas and Kenny Gregory carried Efes to a 33-36 lead at halftime. In the third quarter, an Ender Arslan triple midway through the period increased the Efes lead to double digits, though the efforts of Khalid El Amin reduced the difference to 54-62 at the end of this period. Telekom used zone pressure in the last period and succeeded. With a minute to go, after a party of triples from Scoonie Penn, Nicholas, El Amin, Bekir Yarangume and Tutku Acik, El Amin’s free throws tied the game at 82-82. But Penn and Nicholas carried Efes to 82-86 as El Amin missed twice. Telekom coach Ercument Sunter was ejected from the game by referee Recep Ankarali with 25 seconds remaining and Efes won the game by making it free throws off the technical fouls, despite the three-pointers of Haluk Yildirim and Acik. Ermal Kuqo and Gonlum scored 16 points and grabbed 6 rebounds each to lead Efes, Hutson and Nicholas had 15 points apiece and Penn added 12. For Telekom, El Amin scored 18, Chris Williams had 16 points and 8 assists, Yildirim had 16 points and 6 assists, Bekir Yarangume scored 14 and Tutku Acik 12 and Erwin Dudley scored 10 and grabbed 10 boards.

Fenerbahce Ulker lost to Antalya Buyuksehir Belediyesi 82-71 on the road and missed a chance to join the four-way tie for first place. The host got off to a very fast start and took a 26-16 lead behind points from Cartier Martin and Marcus Douthit. Fener tried to come back in the second period with Willie Solomon and Omer Onan, but the Antalya side remained on top, 39-34 at halftime. Ricardo Marsh and Jamon Lucas kept Antalya’s lead at the same level, while Fenerbahce pushed the game with Emir Preldzic and Gasper Vidmar. Still the hosts went into the last quarter ahead 57-50. Fenerbahce fought with all its might in the beginning of the last quarter, but Solomon’s exit due to 5 fouls with seven minutes to go lowered the resistance and Antalya sealed the win. Douthit lead Antalya with 19 points plus 8 rebounds, Martin scored 17, Lucas had 16 and Marsh added 12. Solomon led Fener with 17 points, Onan scored 14, Preldzic had 11 and Vidmar 10.

Besiktas Cola Turka beat Mersin Buyuksehir Belediyesi 77-84 on the road to take a share of first place in the standings. The visitors made an outstanding start to the game, doubling the Mersin team on points in just in the first period, 17-24, with Kaya Peker and Preston Shumpert leading the way. Polat Kaya helped bring Mersin closer to Besiktas, getting as close as 37-42, but Peker and Cevher Ozer made it 41-54 by halftime. Eddy Fobbs and Bernard King pushed the game harder in the third quarter, but Shumpert kept Besiktas ahead 54-61 before the last period. Besiktas used its experience with Predrag Drobnjak and Rick Apodaca along with Peker and Shumpert and extended the lead to 10 points 61-71 en route to the victory, despite the best efforts of King. Peker scored 23 points and had 10 boards, Shumpert scored 18 points, Apodaca 15 points and both Cevher Ozer and Christian Dalmau scored 11 each for Besiktas. Eddy Fobbs scored 22, Bernard King had 14, Polat Kaya 13 and Reha Oz scored 11 for Mersin.

Galatasaray Cafe Crown trashed CASA TED Kolejliler 89-71 at Ayhan Sahenk Hall. The hosts struggled in the first period, but still led 19-18 after 10 minutes. Robert Hite and Charles Gaines pushed Galatasaray in the second quarter to take a 44-39 lead. CASA TED challenged well also in the third period through Richard Shields and Antawn Dobie, but Galatasaray still led 67-60. The good defense of the home team allowed it to take care of business in the fourth quarter for what turned into a comfortable win. Hite led Galatasaray with 18 points and 8 rebounds, Gaines added 15 and Chris Owens and Dee Brown scored 13 each. Shields scored 16 and Dobie 15 points for Kolejliler.

LAST GAME GAME 19 February 1-3, 2008
Day	Match	Result
Feb. 2	Mersin vs. Besiktas C. Turka	77-84
Feb. 2	Kepez Bld. vs. Alpella	73-60
Feb. 3	Turk Telekom vs. Efes Pilsen	92-93
Feb. 1	Galatasaray vs. CASA TED	89-71
Feb. 3	Antalya vs.Fenerbahce Ulker	82-71
Feb. 2	Mutlu Aku vs. Oyak Renault	72-62
Feb. 2	TTNet Beykoz vs. Banvit	95-70
Feb. 2	Darussafaka vs. Pinar	109-99

NEXT GAME GAME 20 February 15-16, 2008
Day	Match
Feb. 16	Fenerbahce vs. Alpella
Feb. 15	Mersin vs. Darussafaka
Feb. 16	Antalya BSB. vs. TTNet
Feb. 15	Pinar vs. Galatasaray
Feb. 16	Banvit vs. Turk Telekom
Feb. 16	CASA TED vs. Kepez Bld.
Feb. 16	Besiktas C. Turka vs. Oyak
Feb. 16	Efes Pilsen vs. Mutlu Aku

	STANDINGS	TG	W	L	P+	P-
1	TÜRK Telekom	19	14	5	1737	1506
2	Efes Pilsen	19	14	5	1585	1406
3	Galatasaray Cafe Crown	19	14	5	1483	1338
4	Beşiktaş Cola Turka	19	14	5	1591	1443
5	Fenerbahçe Ülker	19	13	6	1533	1431
6	Pinar Karşiyaka	19	12	7	1672	1609
7	Antalya Bşb.	19	12	7	1471	1478
8	Kepez Belediye	19	9	10	1415	1425
9	Mersin Büyükşehir Bld.	19	8	11	1403	1466
10	Banvit	19	8	11	1492	1475
11	Alpella	19	7	12	1362	1480
12	Mutlu Akü Selçuk Üniv.	19	6	13	1486	1628
13	Oyak Renault	19	6	13	1250	1377
14	TTNet Beykoz	19	6	13	1399	1504
15	Casa TED A. Kolejliler	19	5	14	1439	1573
16	Darüşşafaka	19	4	15	1368	1547