Brescia claims big win, Darussafaka advances

Germani Brescia Leonessa bested Darussafaka Tekfen Istanbul 61-70 on the road on Tuesday night, nonetheless, it was the losing side celebrating at the end. The result sent Darussafaka into the EuroCup Top 16. Darussafaka needed to win or not lose by 35 and while it couldn’t manage it with a positive result, the visitors stayed very close throughout. Brescia led for most of the game, however, it could never shake off Darussafaka’s challenge. The visitors hit 10 threes in their pursuit of a win and remain in the hunt for a spot in the next stage thanks to a gutsy performance and clutch shooting from deep. Awudu Abass paced Brescia with 14 points, Andrea Zerini added 13 and Deandre Lansdowne had 12. Sinan Guler led the way for Darussafaka with 18 points and Johnathan Hamilton posted 12 points and 12 rebounds for the home side.

It was tight early and Brescia led lead 9-11 with a couple of David Moss baskets keeping it in front of the hosts. Darussafaka took its first lead at 15-14 with 2 minutes left in the quarter through Jarrod Jones, but it remained a tight affair. Berk Demir scored again and the quarter finished 21-17 despite Brescia leading for most of the opening 10. Darussafaka scored first in the second quarter too and suddenly thanks to Guler it was an 8-point margin. Brescia responded and Zerini made a three. Landsdowne put the visitors up 25-27 and that lead became 28-39 thanks to Brian Sacchetti and Abass triples. Darussafaka reduced the lead to end the quarter but still trailed 33-42 at halftime.

It took 2 minutes before Darussafaka scored the first basket of the second half. Abass and Townsend hit another couple of threes to make it 36-45. The triples weren’t slowing down as Sacchetti hit his third - Brescia’s ninth - of the night to make it 39-51. Guler helped the Darussafaka momentum with a three and made it 42-51. Guler struck again from deep to make it 49-51 as Darussafaka outscored Brescia 11-0. At the end of that quarter, it was 51-53 and the home side was on the charge. Brescia responded to start the final quarter with a quick score to make it 51-55. Landsdowne stole it from Darussafaka and scored to ease the visitors' nerves further. The lead was reduced to the minimum, 56-57, as Ozdemiroglu hit a three and the heat was back on Brescia. Darussafaka could not squeeze ahead though and Luca Vitali hit another three to make it 58-62 as Brescia looked to reassert its control. That lead became 58-66 thanks to Abass and his 4 free throws. Ozmizrack responded with a three to make it 61-66 and to set up a grand finish. However, Darussafaka could not get any closer and Vitali landed a couple of free throws to make it 61-68 and all but seal the outcome.

Guler gets it done for Darussafaka

Darussafaka was calling out for a hero to keep it in the game and Sinan Guler responded. He scored 18 points and was the decisive player when the home side needed a spark in the third, scoring 8 points in that quarter. Darussafaka needed to keep the score down if it couldn’t win and if it wasn’t for the 36-year-old, it might have gotten out of hand.

Did you notice?

In the meeting earlier in the season between these two teams, Brescia scored just 35 points in 40 minutes. The visitors had as many as that early in the second quarter of this game and scored 70 overall. Brescia made 10 three-pointers and doubled its meager return from the game earlier in the season.

What's next?

Brescia’s final game of the regular season is against Nanterre 92 at home on Tuesday, December 17. Darussafaka will travel to play UNICS Kazan the following evening.