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Turkish League, Regular Season, Game 26: March 29-30, 2008
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Big wins for Besiktas Cola Turka and Efes Pilsen kept the status quo atop the Turkish League standings after 26 games. Besiktas won easily in its last game before heading to Turin, Italy, for the ULEB Cup Final Eight, beating Antalya Buyuksehir Belediyesi 86-71 as Preston Shumpert and Predrag Drobnjak scored 19 each. Besiktas improved to 21-5 and remained one win ahead of Efes, which beat CASA TED Kolejliler 54-72 on the road thanks to 18 points from Dewarick Spencer. Third-place Fenerbahce Ulker's road game at Kepez Belediye was postponed to allow the defending champion time to prepare for its Euroleague Basketball Quarterfinal Playoff series against Montepaschi Siena. Turkey’s other Final Eight representative, Galatasaray Cafe Crown, was also a winner, edging TTNet Beykoz 83-77 behind 27 points, 6 rebounds and 5 assists from Dee Brown. Meanwhile Darussafaka scored An important win over Turk Telekom 86-82 as Thomas Guinn scored 27 points and grabbed 9 rebounds for the winners. In the highest-scoring game in a while, Mersin Buyuksehir Belediyesi bested Mutlu Aku Selcuk University 112-104 in overtime as Bernard King shined with 30 points, 9 rebounds and 6 assists, Banvit beat Alpella 69-77 behind Donnell Harvey's 25 points and 14 rebounds and Pinar Karsiyaka overcame Oyak Renault 78-65.
Besiktas Cola Turka remained on top of the Turkish League standings by beating Antalya Buyuksehir Belediyesi for the second time this season, 86-71. Christian Dalmau fired the home team with 11 first-quarter points, while Preston Shumpert added 9 as Besiktas jumped out to a 28-15 lead after 10 minutes. Antalya tried to stay in the game through the excellent Ricardo Marsh, but Besiktas persisted and made it 40-20 before settling for 42-27 at halftime. Antalya used Marcus Douthit and Marsh in the paint and reduced the difference to 50-41 midway through the fourth quarter, but Besiktas stopped the visitors in their track with Predrag Drobnjak, Sinan Guler and Shumpert leading the way and making it 66-55 before the fourth quarter. A Sandro Nicevic layup pushed the Besiktas lead to 75-57 as Besiktas controlled the rest of the game to extend its record to 21-5. Shumpert and Drobnjak scored 19 each, Dalmau had 14 points plus 6 assists, Guler added 12 points and Rick Apodaca added 9 for Besiktas, while Marsh scored 22 and Douthit added 21 points plus 12 rebounds for Antalya.
Efes Pilsen Istanbul remained one win behind Besiktas after trashing CASA TED Kolejliler of Ankara 54-72 on the road. Efes got off to a thunderous 0-10 start with Kerem Gonlum scoring in the first minute. The lead reached 13-22 after 10 minutes. Scoonie Penn, Andre Hutson and Dewarick Spencer ran the show for Efes in the second period, but Jermaine Dearman and Ozgur Adiguzel stopped Efes from snatching the game and the halftime score sat at 33-45. Efes used a 3-10 push at the beginning of the third period and went into the last quarter up 43-57, more than enough to earn the team’s 20th win. Spencer led the way with 18 points, Penn had 12 points plus 6 assists and Gonlum and Hutson scored 10 each for Efes.
Galatasaray Cafe Crown struggled, but still beat relegation threatened TTNet Beykoz 83-77 with a last minute effort. Beykoz, which led most of the game, started riding Clarence Gilbert and Christopher Burgess points for a 4-12 lead. The hosts came back to lead 26-21 after 10 minutes, but Beykoz responded with an 18-25 second period to go ahead 44-46 by halftime. Galatasaray regained the lead in the third period as Charles Gaines and Chris Owens scored, but the Burgess/Gilbert duo was unstoppable for the visitors, who led at the end of the third period, 63-67. Dee Brown and Gilbert traded baskets in the fourth as the game remained close with Beykoz still ahead with four minutes remaining, 73-76, after a triple from Gilbert. But the visitors were only able to score 1 more point the rest of the way, while Galatasaray posted 10. Beykoz missed 4 free-throw attempts in the last minute as Galatasaray won the game. Brown finished with 27 points plus 6 rebounds and 5 assists, Britton Johnsen came off bench to score 19 points and grab 10 rebounds, Gaines had 16 points and 12 boards and Owens added 10 points for Galatasaray. Gilbert hit 6 threes en route to 32 points in defeat, while Burgess added 18 points and 10 rebounds for Beykoz.
Struggling Turk Telekom went down to relegation threatened Darussafaka 86-82 at the Ayhan Sahenk Arena. The home team led 28-20 at the end of the first quarter and still led 50-44 by halftime. Khalid El Amin, Erwin Dudley, Tutku Acik and Kris Lang couldn't mount a strong enough second half to come back and Darussafaka sealed the win. Thomas Guinn scored 27 points and grabbed 9 rebounds for the winners, Lamar Johnson added 15 points, Baris Guney scored 14, Soner Senturk 12 and Eric Chatfield added 11 for the home team. Lang had 21 points plus 9 rebounds, Acik scored 16 and Dudley and El Amin finished by 15 each for Telekom.
LAST GAME GAME 26
March 29-30, 2008 | | Day | Match | Result | | Apr. 16 | Kepez vs. FB Ulker | - | | Mar. 30 | CASA TED vs.Efes Pilsen | 54-72 | | Mar. 30 | Galatasaray vs. TTNet | 83-77 | | Mar. 30 | Darussafaka vs. Turk T. | 86-82 | | Mar. 30 | Besiktas CC vs. Antalya | 86-71 | | Mar. 30 | Pinar vs. Oyak Renault | 78-65 | | Mar. 30 | Alpella vs. Banvit | 69-77 | | Mar. 29 | Mersin vs. Mutlu Aku | 112-104 OT |
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NEXT GAME GAME 27
April 5-6, 2008 | | Day | Match | | Apr. 6 | FB Ulker vs. Besiktas CT | | Apr. 5 | Antalya BSB. vs. Alpella | | Apr. 6 | Mutlu Aku vs. Darussafaka | | Apr. 5 | Turk Tel.vs. Galatasaray | | Apr. 6 | Banvit vs. CASA TED | | Apr. 6 | TTNet Beykoz vs. Kepez Bld. | | Apr. 6 | Oyak Renault vs. Mersin | | Apr. 6 | Efes Pilsen vs. Pinar |
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| STANDINGS | TG | W | L | P+ | P- | | 1 | Besiktas Cola Turka | 26 | 21 | 5 | 2163 | 1922 | | 2 | Efes Pilsen | 26 | 20 | 6 | 2138 | 1860 | | 3 | Galatasaray Cafe Crown | 26 | 17 | 9 | 1988 | 1856 | | 4 | Fenerbahce Ulker | 25 | 17 | 8 | 2012 | 1858 | | 5 | Turk Telekom | 26 | 16 | 10 | 2325 | 2125 | | 6 | Pinar Karsiyaka | 26 | 15 | 11 | 2281 | 2215 | | 7 | Antalya BSB. | 26 | 15 | 11 | 2028 | 2026 | | 8 | Mersin BSB. | 26 | 12 | 14 | 1975 | 2045 | | 9 | Banvit | 26 | 11 | 15 | 2085 | 2066 | | 10 | CASA TED Kolejliler | 26 | 11 | 15 | 1965 | 2083 | | 11 | Kepez Bld. | 25 | 11 | 14 | 1909 | 1924 | | 12 | Mutlu Aku Selcuk Uni. | 26 | 9 | 17 | 2080 | 2271 | | 13 | Oyak Renault | 26 | 9 | 17 | 1723 | 1872 | | 14 | Alpella | 26 | 8 | 18 | 1865 | 2055 | | 15 | Darussafaka | 26 | 8 | 18 | 1918 | 2114 | | 16 | TTNet Beykoz | 26 | 7 | 19 | 1944 | 2107 |
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Gökhan Türe, Istanbul
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Euroleague / ULEB Cup teams
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