Turkish League finals, Game 1

Besiktas Milangaz held off Anadolu Efes's late comeback to register a 75-82 victory on Game 1 of the Turkish League finals. Pops Mensah-Bonsu scored 18 and Carlos Arroyo tallied 15 points and 6 assists to lead the visitors. Game 2 is scheduled for Thursday. Besiktas used a 0-12 first-quarter run to take the lead for good and a 0-11 third-quarter charge to move ahead by as many as 16. Stanko Barac played a vital role in bringing Efes as close as 2 in the final minute, the Besiktas's shooters were calm from the line and wrapped up the win. Zoran Erceg also scored 15, David Hawkins 13 and Erwin Dudley 10 for the winners. Kerem Tunceri led Efes with 15 points and 7 assists and Oliver Lafayette posted 10 points and 9 assists in defeat. Besiktas had the upper hand early as Serhat Cetin highlighted a 0-12 run to make it 11-20. Efes narrowed the gap to 5 by the end of the first quarter through baskets by big men Esteban Batista and Kerem Gonlum. Efes's guards continued the home team push, but Erceg made sure Besiktas kept the lead. Mensah-Bonsu took over the scoring load as the visitors remained in control. Tunceri set the halftime score at 30-36. Efes twice came within 4 early in the third quarter, however Arroyo took charge with 5 points and a pair of assists to Erwin Dudley and Mensah-Bonsu for a run of 11 unanswered points that made it 34-49. The Besiktas lead hit 16 on an Arroyo-to- Mensah-Bonsu alley-oop as the visitors looked to put the game away. Cenk Akyol tried to revive Efes and a Sinan Guler triple made it 53-62 at the end of the third quarter. Gonlum and Guler rallied Efes back to within 63-68 midway through the fourth quarter. Barac and later Gonlum made it a 4-point game and Barac then brought new life to the arena when he made it 70-72 with 54 seconds remaining. However free throws by Hawkins and Erceg surrounding a missed Akyol three doomed the hosts. Tunceri made a three, however more free throws by Arroyo and Dudley iced the game as Besiktas started the series with a crucial road win.

euroleague.net

30.05.2012 11:49