Turkish League Semifinals, Game 3: May 30-31, 2009
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 Efes Pilsen and Fenerbahce Ulker made it to the Turkish League finals. Both teams swept their respective best-of-five semifinal series and are ready to face each other in the best-of-seven finals. Efes advanced to the title series by knocking off Galatasaray Cafe Crown 78-90 on the road in Game 3 on Saturday. Efes won the series 3-0. Charles Smith paced the winners with 18 points. Ender Arslan added 17, Preston Shumpert had 15 while Mario Kasun got 14 for Efes. Huseyin Besok and Quinton Hosley each had 18 points for Galatasaray. Besok added 12 rebounds for a double-double. Anthony Tolliver had 15 points while Antonio Graves got 10 for the hosts, that only rallied once the outcome was clear. Meanwhile, FB Ulker downed Turk Telekom 70-57 at home in Game 3 on Sunday. Devin Smith led the winners with 21 points. Oguz Savas added 15 while Semih Erden had 11 for Fener. Oscar Torres had 16 points for Telekom while Erwin Dudley added 13 and 13 rebounds. A late 16-2 run allowed Fener to stay in the driver's seat until the final buzzer.
On Saturday, Bootsy Thornton, Kasun and Smith fueled a 0-9 opening run for Efes. A three-pointer by Smith soon boosted the guests' lead to double digits, 10-22. Kasun allowed Efes to make it an 11-point game, 18-20, after 10 minutes. Hosley and an outstanding Besok brought Galatasaray back to life, 34-37, but Arslan and Preston Shumpert stepped up to keep Efes ahead, 34-42. Free throws by Shumpert fixed the halftime score at 37-50. Arslan, Kasun and Smith soon helped Efes to make it a 20-point game, 40-60. Efes kept full control of the game since that moment, as even when Galatasaray managed to get within 76-85 with under 2 minutes to go, it was already too little, too late for the hosts.
On Sunday, Damir Mrsic and Semih Erden stepped up to give FB Ulker an early 11-5 lead. Khalid El-Amin and Dudley stepped up for Telekom while a basket by Tutku Acik allowed the guests to get a 16-17 edge after 10 minutes. Fener did not panic, however, as a layup by Savas ignitied an 11-1 run that Emir Preldzic capped with a three-pointer to give the hosts a 27-18 margin. Torres tried to change things for Telekom but Smith and a triple by Willie Solomon kept FB Ulker way ahead, 39-30, at halftime. Kenan Barjamovic took over after the break to get Telekom within 42-40 late in the third quarter. Preldzic, Erden and Smith fueled a 16-2 run that put Fener ahead for good, 56-42. Dudley and El-Amin tried to change things in the final 4 minutes but it was already too little, too late for Telekom.
| Semifinals Playoffs, best of 5 games |
| Record |
Team |
Game 1 |
Game 2 |
Game 3 |
Game 4 |
Game 5 |
| 3 |
Efes Pilsen (1) |
W* |
103 |
90 |
x |
x |
| 0 |
Galatasaray Cafe Crown (4) |
L* |
77 |
78 |
x |
x |
| 0 |
Turk Telekom (2) |
81 |
79 |
57 |
x |
x |
| 3 |
Fenerbahce Ulker (3) |
86 |
85 |
70 |
x |
x |
*In Turkey, if one team won both regular season games between them,
their playoff series begins 1-0 in that team's favor.
| Semifinals Playoffs round games |
| Game 1 |
Turk Telekom vs. Fenerbahce Ulker |
81-86 |
May 26 |
| Game 2 |
Efes Pilsen vs. Galatasaray Cafe Crown |
103-77 |
May 27 |
| Game 2 |
Turk Telekom vs. Fenerbahce Ulker |
79-85 |
May 28 |
| Game 3 |
Galatasaray Cafe Crown vs. Efes Pilsen |
78-90 |
May 30 |
| Game 3 |
Fenerbahce Ulker vs. Turk Telekom |
70-57 |
May 31 |
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Gökhan Türe, Istanbul
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