Galatasaray follows Koksal to crucial win at Lietkabelis

Galatasaray Odeabank Istanbul took a major step towards the Top 16 from Group B with a 77-84 victory on the road against Lietkabelis Panevezys on Tuesday. Goksenin Koksal hit 5 three-pointers in scoring 17 points and Richard Hendrix had 13 points and 7 rebounds as Galatasaray improved to 4-5 and, more importantly, gained the tiebreaker advantage over Lietkabelis after losing their game in Istanbul by 5 points. Alex Renfroe added 15 points and Emir Preldzic chipped in 10 points, 5 rebounds and 5 assists for the winners. Lietkabelis dropped to 4-5 and missed a chance to qualify for the Top 16 had it won the game. Ksistof Lavrinovic led the way with 24 points and 7 rebounds while Adas Juskevicius picked up 14 points and Darjus Lavrinovic had 10 points.

Juskevicius opened the scoring for Lietkabelis with Renfroe answering at the other end. Renfroe's first three-pointer gave Galatasaray its first lead, 6-7. Zanis Peiners put Lietkavelis back in front, but a triple from Dwight Hardy pushed Galatasaray ahead again. Lietkabelis missed 3 free throws which allowed Galatasaray to stay ahead. Hendrix nailed a triple and Preldzic added a three-ball and three-point play to push the advantage to 19-25 after 10 minutes. Koksal continued the Galatasaray barrage from the outside to start the second quarter by boosting the difference to 19-30. Simas Jasaitis knocked down a long ball for Lietkabelis to cut the gap to 6 points, however Preldzic hit another of his own and Koksal 3 more from long range in a 2-14 spurt for a 26-44 runaway. Lietkabelis did a good job working the deficit down over the final minutes with Juskevicius hitting 2 threes and Ksistof Lavrinovic scoring 4 points to make it 40-52 at the break.

Galatasaray maintained a comfortable lead thanks to DaJuan Summers' three-pointer and Scotty Hopson's putback at 44-59. Ksistof Lavrinovic answered with a three-pointer and 2 more baskets to trim the gap to 53-62, but when Lietkabelis had a chance to cut the margin to 7 points it could not convert. Koksal’s layup started an 0-8 spurt as Galatasaray stayed ahead 57-70 after 30 minutes. Hendrix hit a pair baskets early in the fourth quarter before Donatas Tarolis came up big for the hosts with a block, free throws and a layup to keep Lietkabelis within striking distance at 65-76. Koksal nailed yet another three-pointer and Jordan Taylor's free throw gave Galatasaray a 67-81 lead with 4 minutes to play. Ksistof Lavrinovic followed at the other end with a four-point play, and then after 2 more scores from the Lietkabelis big man, it was 77-84 inside the final minute. Juskevicius had a three-point attempt at the buzzer which would have made it a four-point difference, but the shot was off and Galatasaray escaped with the tiebreaker advantage.