Turkish League, Regular Season, Game 27: April 5-6, 2008
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The top six opponents in the Turkish League battled each other in Week 27, and when the dust settled, a quarterfinalist from the Euroleague whose continental season ended this week stopped another from the ULEB Cup whose biggest games are days away. Fenerbahce Ulker beat archrivals Besiktas Cola Turka 75-68 in the Turkish League with a three-point storm in the last quarter. Besiktas still holds first place thanks to a home loss suffered by second-place Efes Pilsen, after which head coach David Blatt left the team. Due to its own loss, however, Besiktas will not enjoy a playoff advantage against Fenerbahce. In the Turkish League, any team that sweeps its regular season series against another starts with a victory in hand if those two teams meet in the playoffs. Fenerbahce lost their first meeting, but made sure this time to even the series as Will Solomon scored 19 points and Mirsad Turkcan came off the bench for a double-double of 11 and 10 rebounds. The other ULEB Cup quarterfinalist in the Turkish League also lost as Turk Telekom swamped visiting Galatasaray 88-72 thanks to Khalid El Amin's 26 points and 7 assists. Efes Pilsen lost to sixth-place Pinar Karsiyaka 77-81 as the visitors got 22 points from Sean Marshall and 17 from Asim Pars. In other scores, seventh-place Antalya defeated visiting Alpella 89-80, Darussafaka pummeled host Mutlu Aku 77-14, last-place Beykoz rose up to beat visiting Kepez 87-86, Oyak handled visiting Mersin 86-78 and Kolejliler won an 85-86 overtime thriller at Banvit.
Besiktas had 0-8 start to the game with Fenerbahce on scoring by Preston Shumpert, Sinan Guler and Sandro Nicevic, then made it 3-12 on a triple from their new guard, Brian Chase. Fener woke up on defense and also found consecutive points by Solomon and Omer Asik to reduce the gap to 12-17 after one quarter. Fenerbahce's aggressive defense in the second quarter stopped Besiktas in time for Damir Mrsic's to score a triple and a layup good for the home team's first lead, 23-21. A triple by Solomon let Fener continue leading by 30-28 at the halftime. Turkcan and Mrsic's three-pointers extended Fener's lead to 46-39 midway through the third quarter, which ended with the hosts still in front, by 51-46. Besiktas rallied behind Shumpert, Predrag Drobnjak and Guler again to lead again with a 0-6 run, but Fenerbahce responded immediately. In minute 34, Turkcan, Tarence Kinsey and Mrsic blasted 3 consecutive three-pointers to make the score 63-56. Another by Solomon soon lifted Fener ahead by 9 points, 73-64, which let the hosts control the rest of the game and win 75-68. Solomon lead the winners with 19 points, 5 rebounds and 4 assists. Turkcan came from bench to score 11 points and having 10 rebounds plus 5 assists. Mrsic also came from the side to score 14 points and Tarence Kinsey scored 18 points with 5 rebounds also by coming from the bench along with Omer Asik, scored 8 points with 4 boards and 3 blocks. Shumpert scored 18 points plus 6 rebounds. Chase scored 10, the same as Guler, while Kaya Peker finished with 9 points with 10 rebounds.
Efes Pilsen lost to Pinar Karsiyaka 77-81 at home but remained just behind leaders Besiktas with a 20-7 record. Despite having losing Quinton Hosley to injury, Karsiyaka started fast, going to Asim Pars inside and Sean Marshall, and led 15-24 after one quarter. Efes evened the game with Kerem Gonlum and Scoonie Penn in the second quarter, but the halftime score was 33-39. Efes tried it hard with Ermal Kuqo, Craig Bradshaw and Andre Hutson in the third quarter, but only cut the difference to 57-62 before triples by Baris Ermis and Marshall in the last quarter prevented a comeback for Efes and Karsiyaka won 77-81. Marshall scored 22 points, Pars had 17 points plus 11 rebounds and 5 assist, Ermis scored 17 points plus 5 rebounds and 4 assists and Geno Carlisle added 11 for Karsiyaka. Gonlum had 19 points and 9 rebounds for Efes. Penn added 11 points plus 5 assists and both Kuqo and Hutson added 10 each.
Turk Telekom thrashed Galatasaray Cafe Crown 88-72 in Ankara for its 17th win of the season. The winners led 24-16 after one quarter as El Amin fired up his team. Galatasaray answered back with points from Murat Kaya and Charles Gaines in the second quarter, cutting Telekom's lead to 42-40 at halftime. Erwin Dudley and Christopher Williams helped Telekom to increase the lead to 20 points in the third quarter as the home team went into the last quarter 70-56 ahead. Telekom defended the difference well in the last quarter and won the game 88-72. El Amin scored 26 points with 7 assists, Williams had 17 points, 9 rebounds and 4 assists, Dudley had 13 points with 14 boards for Telekom. Gaines had 14 points and Kaya added 12 for Galatasaray.
LAST GAME GAME 27
April 5-6, 2008 | | Day | Match | Result | | Apr. 6 | FB Ulker vs. Besiktas C.T. | 75-68 | | Apr. 5 | Antalya BSB. vs. Alpella | 89-80 | | Apr. 6 | Mutlu Aku vs. Darussafaka | 77-104 | | Apr. 5 | Turk T. vs. Galatasaray | 88-72 | | Apr. 6 | Banvit vs. CASA TED | 85-86 OT | | Apr. 6 | TTNet Beykoz vs. Kepez | 87-86 | | Apr. 5 | Oyak Renault vs. Mersin | 86-78 | | Apr. 6 | Efes Pilsen vs. Pinar | 77-81 |
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NEXT GAME GAME 28
April 12-16, 2008 | | Day | Match | | Apr. 16 | Besiktas C.T. vs. Alpella | | Apr. 12 | Mersin BSB. vs. Efes Pilsen | | Apr. 12 | FenerbahceUlker vs.TTNet | | Apr. 12 | Kepez vs. Turk Telekom | | Apr. 12 | CASA TED vs. Antalya BSB. | | Apr. 12 | Darussafaka vs. Oyak | | Apr. 12 | Pinar Karsiyaka vs. Banvit | | Apr. 16 | Galatasaray vs. Mutlu Aku |
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| STANDINGS | TG | W | L | P+ | P- | | 1 | Beşiktaş Cola Turka | 27 | 21 | 6 | 2231 | 1997 | | 2 | Efes Pilsen | 27 | 20 | 7 | 2215 | 1941 | | 3 | Galatasaray Cafe Crown | 27 | 17 | 10 | 2060 | 1944 | | 4 | Fenerbahçe Ülker | 26 | 18 | 8 | 2087 | 1926 | | 5 | TÜRK Telekom | 27 | 17 | 10 | 2413 | 2197 | | 6 | Pinar Karşiyaka | 27 | 16 | 11 | 2362 | 2292 | | 7 | Antalya Bşb. | 27 | 16 | 11 | 2117 | 2106 | | 8 | Casa TED A. Kolejliler | 27 | 12 | 15 | 2051 | 2168 | | 9 | Mersin Büyükşehir Bld. | 27 | 12 | 15 | 2053 | 2131 | | 10 | Banvit | 27 | 11 | 16 | 2170 | 2152 | | 11 | Kepez Belediye | 26 | 11 | 15 | 1995 | 2011 | | 12 | Oyak Renault | 27 | 10 | 17 | 1809 | 1950 | | 13 | Darüşşafaka | 27 | 9 | 18 | 2022 | 2191 | | 14 | Mutlu Akü Selçuk Üniv. | 27 | 9 | 18 | 2157 | 2375 | | 15 | Alpella | 27 | 8 | 19 | 1945 | 2144 | | 16 | TTNet Beykoz | 27 | 8 | 19 | 2031 | 2193 |
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