Turkish League, Playoffs, Quarterfinals, Game 3: May 8-11, 2008
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Turk Telekom became the only team to sweep its quarterfinal series after Chris Williams's hook shot lifted his team to an 86-88 road win in Game 3 over Galatasaray Café Crown. Williams finished with 15 points, while Baris Ozcan drilled 6 triples en route to 20 points and Khalid El Amin added 19 plus 9 assists for Telekom. Meanwhile defending champion Fenerbahce Ulker was denied a sweep when it lost 88-82 at Antalya Buyuksehir Belediyesi in Game 3. The hosts got hot from downtown in the fourth quarter to make a late run and snatch the win as Marcus Douthit shined with 24 points and 7 rebounds. Efes Pilsen took a 2-1 series lead over Pinar Karsiyaka with an 82-95 road win. Serkan Erdogan scored a season-high 20 points for the winners and Ermal Kuqo had 18. Both Efes and Fener will look to wrap up their respective series on Monday night. Meanwhile Joseph Crispin’s fade away jumper over Preston Shumpert a second before the end of the overtime kept the chances for Banvit alive against Besiktas Cola Turka. Banvit won the game 90-89 at home in Bandirma to close the gap in the series to 2-1.
Efes Pilsen beat Pinar Karsiyaka 82-95 on the road in Karsiyaka, Izmir, to take a 2-1 series lead. Ermal Kuqo and Quinton Hosley dueled in the first quarter, which ended 24-26 for Efes. But Serkan Erdogan changed the balance of the game in the second period. The guard scored 3 three-pointers to help Efes go into the locker rooms up 48-54 ahead. Kenny Gregory and Kuqo supported Erdogan inside as Efes extended the lead to 50-62 in the third quarter and jumped into the last period leading 61-70. Efes had Ender Arslan and Kuqo in the last period to kill the hopes of Karsiyaka and seal the win. Erdogan scored a season-high 20 points for the winners, Kuqo had 18, Gregory 16 and Kerem Gonlum posted a double-double with 13 points plus 11 rebounds. Hosley led Karsiyaka with 26 points and 9 rebounds, Geno Carlisle had 14 points and Baris Ermis and Sean Marshall added 13 each.
Antalya Buyuksehir Belediyesi stopped Fenerbahce Ulker in Antalya with a last period burst for its first win of the quarterfinals. The hosts started the game effectively through Ricardo Marsh and Marcus Douthit and led 22-20 at the end of the first period. The roles changed in the second period as Mirsad Turkcan and Oguz Savas helped the defending champs take a 42-47 halftime lead. Fener kept its narrow lead in the third period as well with Savas, Tarence Kinsey and James White fueling the offense to go into the last period 60-63 ahead. Can Akin, Ersin Gorkem and Jamon Lucas hit three-pointers to help Antalya change the destiny of the game. The hosts went on to outscore Fener 28-19 in the last period to win the game 88-82. Douthit lead Antalya with 24 points and 7 rebounds, Marsh had 22 points, Gorkem posted 17 points, 8 rebounds and 6 assists and Lucas finished with 15. For Fenerbahce, White scored 14 points, Turkcan and Savas added 13 and Kinsey 11.
Turk Telekom of Ankara cruised into the semifinals by sweeping Galatasaray Café Crown with an 86-88 road win in Game 3. Chris Williams buried a hook shot at the buzzer to lift Telekom to the semis Turk Telekom had Williams inside and Baris Ozcan outside to build a 24-29 lead at the end of the first quarter. Erwin Dudley increased the visitors’ lead 7 points at the beginning of the second quarter with a layup, but Galatasaray responded with a 10-0 run capped by a pair of free throws from Chris Owens to take the lead midway through the second quarter. Telekom stood still with Khalid El Amin and Dudley scoring, but a Dee Brown layup ended the first half at 46-44. Galatasaray took the control of the game in the third period and went up 58-52 on the strength of a three-pointer by Robert Hite. But the man of the match was Baris Ozcan as he hit back-to-back triples for Telekom. The game remained close until the very end and Galatasaray entered the last 10 seconds up 86-84 after a single free throw from Brown. But El Amin denied the victory of the home team with a layup at 39.57 and then the home team’s Murat Kaya accidentally turned the ball over and gave Telekom another possession. The visitors took full advantage as Williams won the game and the series at the buzzer. Ozcan had 20 points including 6 three pointers, El Amin added 19 plus 9 assists, Dudley had 16 points and Williams 15 for Telekom. Brown scored 24 points, Charles Gaines had 21 points plus 9 rebounds and Owens scored 18 points for Galatasaray.
Joseph Crispin’s fade away jumper over Preston Shumpert a second before the end of the overtime kept the chances for Banvit alive against Besiktas Cola Turka in the quarterfinals. Banvit won the game 90-89 at home in Bandirma to close the gap in the series to 2-1. Besiktas started the series 1-0 after sweeping tis regular season games against Banvit and led 2-0 after winning the game in Istanbul. It was a tight first quarter as the visitors took the lead on a last-second layup by Sinan Guler, 19-21. Guler, Rick Apodaca and Predrag Drobnjak carried Besiktas to a 33-41 lead late in the half, but Banvit cut the gap to 39-43 by halftime. Kaya Peker and Shumpert played key roles in the third quarter to extend the lead to 10 points, but Banvit stayed in the game through the points of Crispin and Yunus Cankaya and the visitors went into the last period just 54-59 ahead. Banvit tied the game at 59-59 in the first minute of the last period on Donnell Harvey and Cankaya points and the game turned to a challenge. Neither team could settle it and it went to overtime tied 80-80. Banvit grabbed an 88-84 advantage two minutes before the end on back-to-back triples from Crispin and Cankaya, but Besiktas responded with Apodaca free throws and a three-pointer by Brian Chase to go up 88-89 with a minute to go. After 2 missed attempts from both sides, Banvit took the last possession and the man of the match Crispin broke the defensive wall of Shumpert a second before the buzzer with an extraordinary fade-away jumper to carry his team to victory. Crispin scored a game-high 29 points, Cankaya had 20 points and Andrew Adeleke had a double-double of 13 points and 16 rebounds for Banvit. Peker led Besiktas with 20 points, Shumpert scored 19 and Chase 17.
| Quarterfinal Playoffs, best of 5 games |
| Record | Team | Game 1 | Game 2 | Game 3 | Game 4 | Game 5 | | 3 | Besiktas C. Turka (1) | W* | 85 | 89 | 102 | x | | 1 | Banvit (8) | L* | 81 | 90 | 96 | x | | 3 | Turk Telekom (4) | 78 | 73 | 88 | x | x | | 0 | Galatasaray CC (5) | 71 | 68 | 86 | x | x | | 2 | Efes Pilsen (2) | 73 | 78 | 95 | May 12 | - | | 1 | Pinar (7) | 79 | 56 | 82 | - | - | | 2 | Fenerbahce Ulker (3) | 78 | 81 | 82 | May 12 | - | | 1 | Antalya BSB. (6) | 73 | 76 | 88 | - | - |
*In Turkey, if one team won both regular season games between them,
their playoff series begins 1-0 in that team's favor.
| Quarterfinal games | | Game 1 | Efes Pilsen vs. Pinar | 73-79 | May 4 | | Game 1 | Fenerbahce Ulker vs. Antalya BSB. | 78-73 | May 4 | | Game 1 | Turk Telekom vs. Galatasaray CC | 78-71 | May 5 | | Game 2 | Besiktas Cola Turka vs. Banvit | 85-81 | May 3 | | Game 2 | Efes Pilsen vs. Pinar | 78-56 | May 6 | | Game 2 | Fenerbahce Ulker vs. Antalya BSB. | 81-76 | May 6 | | Game 2 | Turk Telekom vs. Galatasaray CC | 73-68 | May 7 | | Game 3 | Banvit vs. Besiktas Cola Turka | 89-90 | May 8 | | Game 3 | Pinar vs. Efes Pilsen | 82-95 | May 10 | | Game 3 | Antalya BSB. vs. Fenerbahce Ulker | 88-82 | May 10 | | Game 3 | Galatasaray CC vs. Turk Telekom | 86-88 | May 11 | | Game 4 | Banvit vs. Besiktas Cola Turka | 96-102 | May 10 | | Game 4 | Pinar vs. Efes Pilsen | - | May 12 | | Game 4 | Antalya BSB. vs. Fenerbahce Ulker | - | May 12 | | Game 5 | Efes Pilsen vs. Pinar | - | - | | Game 5 | Fenerbahce Ulker vs. Antalya BSB. | - | - |
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Gökhan Türe, Istanbul
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