2018-19Regular SeasonRound 18
Buducnost VOLI Podgorica 75
Darussafaka Tekfen Istanbul 74
January 11, 2019 CET: 19:00
Local time: 19:00 MORACA

Cole's game-winner lifts Buducnost in thriller

In a thriller that went down to the wire, Buducnost VOLI Podgorica broke its six-game losing streak by topping Darussafaka Tekfen Istanbul 75-74 in the Montenegrin capital on Friday. Norris Cole exited a timeout and buried a jumper on the run for the game-winning points with 4 seconds left. Buducnost improved to 4-14 in the standings and ranks 15th overall, with Darussafaka right behind at 2-16. Edwin Jackson led the winners with 18 points. Cole added 17 while Coty Clarke and Goga Bitadze each had 11 for Buducnost. Toney Douglas led Darussafaka with 14 points. Oguz Savas and Jeremy Evans each had 12 for the hosts. It all came down to the final seconds in a back-and-forth battle. Kartal Ozmizrak hit free throws for a one-point Darussafaka lead, Cole hit his jumper and the guests could not score in the final seconds.

Jackson and Suad Sehovic got Buducnost going with back-to-back three-pointers. Savas rescued Darussafaka with a couple of jumpers before a layup by Zanis Peiners gave the guests their first lead, 6-7. Earl Clark and Bitadze stepped up for Buducnost but a three-pointer by Jon Diebler, free throws by Toney Douglas Stanton Kidd's layup kept Darussafaka ahead. But that was only until Clarke struck from downtown to restore a 16-14 Buducnost lead after 10 minutes. A dunk-and-free throw by Michael Eric and a triple by Ozmizrak restored a 18-20 Darussafaka lead early in the second quarter. Danilo Nikolic and Petar Popovic hit free throws but Douglas answered for a 22-24 score. Bitadze and Clarke scored around the basket and a driving layup by Popovic provided another lead change, 30-28. Clark followed a layup with a jumper for a 36-33 Buducnost lead. Evans and Savas each had 4 points in a 0-9 run which allowed Darussafaka to take a 36-42 lead at halftime. A driving basket by Cole and a three-pointer by Jackson brought the hosts within 41-43 soon after the break. Diebler and Evans hit foul shots but an unstoppable Cole scored twice to bring Buducnost even closer, 45-46. Cole kept pacing his team and three-point play by Bitadze gave Buducnost a new lead, 52-50. Douglas hit a floater but Nikolic and Jackson boosted the hosts' margin to 58-53 after 30 minutes. Jackson buried two triples early in the fourth quarter to make it an eight-point game, 66-58. Evans had 4 points in a 0-6 run that gave Darussafaka hope, 66-63, with 4 minutes left. Bitadze and Cole took over with respective three-point plays but Douglas and Ozmizrak each struck from downtown for a 72-69 score. Douglas tied the game with a triple and a free throws by Nemanja Gordic gave Buducnost a 73-72 edge with 41.1 seconds left. Ozmizrak drew a foul with 11.7 seconds to go, hitting both attempts for a 73-74 score. Cole downed the game-winning jumper with 4 seconds left, as Darussafaka could not find a shot in the game's final possession.

Pivotal performer

Jackson had one of his best games of the season, selecting his shots really well to reach 18 points. He hit 4 of 6 three-pointers, 2 of 2 inside the arc and 2 of 2 free throws, adding 2 rebounds, a steal, a block and 4 fouls drawn for a PIR of 22.

Game-changing moment

The game went down to the final seconds but Buducnost could not have won without its third-quarter comeback. Cole ignited it with four consecutive baskets and eventually got help from Bitadze and Jackson to go from 47-50 to 58-53 -- an 11-3 run.

Stellar stat

There were as many as 11 blocks in this game: 6 for Buducnost and 5 for Darussafaka. It tied the second-best mark in the competition this season; there were 16 blocks when Darussafaka hosted Maccabi on December 6, 2018. Bitadze had 4 blocks for Buducnost.

Did you notice?

A great run late in the second quarter allowed Darussafaka to avoid a EuroLeague's all-time negative record. Before that, Darussafaka had lost 12 consecutive quarters: 3 against Olympiacos, all 4 against CSKA and Barcelona, and the first quarter against Buducnost. The all-time record belongs to Hapoel Jerusalem, with 14 consecutive quarters lost in the 2000-01 season.

Next game:

Both teams return to EuroLeague action on Friday of Round 19. Darussafaka visits Anadolu Efes Istanbul at 18:30 CET. Half an hour later, at 19:00 CET, Buducnost hosts Real Madrid.

Norris Cole celebrates - Buducnost VOLI Podgorica - EB18
Friday, January 11, 2019
Euroleague.net
Referees: LATISEVS, OLEGS; HIERREZUELO, DANIEL; PANTHER, ANNE
Attendance: 4081
By Quarter1234
Buducnost VOLI Podgorica16202217
Darussafaka Tekfen Istanbul14281121
End of Quarter1234
Buducnost VOLI Podgorica16365875
Darussafaka Tekfen Istanbul14425374
Buducnost VOLI Podgorica
  Rebounds Blocks Fouls
# Player Min Pts 2FG 3FG FT O D T As St To Fv Ag Cm Rv PIR
1 JACKSON, EDWIN 27:22 18 2/2 4/6 2/2   2 2   1   1   2 4 22
3 COLE, NORRIS 25:57 17 8/15 0/1 1/1 1   1 2   5     3 4 8
4 SEHOVIC, SUAD 12:59 3   1/2   1 5 6   1 1   1 2   5
5 CLARK, EARL 18:32 4 2/3 0/2 0/2 1 1 2   1 2 1   2 1  
6 BAROVIC, FILIP 13:25   0/1     2 3 5 1             5
7 CLARKE, COTY 16:58 11 3/4 1/1 2/2       1 3 1     1 2 14
8 SEHOVIC, SEAD DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
10 GORDIC, NEMANJA 18:17 1 0/3 0/2 1/2 1 1 2 2 1 1   2   1 -2
11 BITADZE, GOGA 26:31 11 4/6 0/1 3/4 2 2 4   1 1 4   3 5 17
30 POPOVIC, PETAR 9:33 4 1/2   2/2               1 2 2 2
31 BELL, JAMES 17:28     0/2     1 1     1     3   -5
34 NIKOLIC, DANILO 12:58 6 1/4 0/1 4/4 1 2 3 1       1 2 3 6
Team           1 1 2     1         1
Totals 200:00 75 21/40 6/18 15/19 10 18 28 7 8 13 6 5 20 22 73
        52.5% 33.3% 78.9%
Head coach: REPESA, JASMIN
Min: Minutes played; Pts: Points; 2FG M-A: 2-point Field Goals (Made-Attempted); 3FG M-A: 3-point Field Goals (Made-Attempted); FT M-A: Free Throws (Made-Attempted); Rebounds: O (Offensive), D (Defensive), T (Total); As: Assists; St: Steals; To: Turnovers; Bl: Blocks (Fv: In Favor / Ag: Against); Fouls: Cm (Commited), Rv (Received); PIR: Performance Index Rating
Darussafaka Tekfen Istanbul
  Rebounds Blocks Fouls
# Player Min Pts 2FG 3FG FT O D T As St To Fv Ag Cm Rv PIR
3 OZMIZRAK, KARTAL 9:22 8   2/2 2/2       2   1 1   2 2 10
5 BAYGUL, MUHAMMED 13:21 1 0/1   1/2 2 1 3 1           2 5
9 KOSUT, EMIRCAN 4:18 2 1/2           1           1 3
10 DEMIR, BERK 5:03                     1   2   -1
11 KIDD, STANTON 24:37 9 3/4 1/4     3 3   2 1   1 3   5
21 SAVAS, OGUZ 15:54 12 5/7   2/3   1 1     2     3 3 8
22 BROWN, MARKEL 3:48     0/1     1 1           1 1  
23 DOUGLAS, TONEY 33:49 14 3/10 2/5 2/2 1 1 2 9 4 1   3 4 1 12
31 PEINERS, ZANIS 12:53 2 1/1           1 1 4     2   -2
33 DIEBLER, JON 30:48 7   1/2 4/5   6 6 2   2     2 5 14
40 EVANS, JEREMY 30:11 12 5/6 0/1 2/4 1 6 7   1 1 2   2 3 18
50 ERIC, MICHAEL 15:56 7 3/7   1/1 2   2 1   4 1 2 1 2 2
Team           3 4 7     1         6
Totals 200:00 74 21/38 6/15 14/19 9 23 32 17 8 17 5 6 22 20 80
        55.3% 40% 73.7%
Head coach: ERNAK, SELCUK

Head Coaches

REPESA, JASMIN
Buducnost VOLI Podgorica

"First of all, we are in a period in which every win is extremely important. It is easy to see we are a little bit confused in some parts of the game, and some others we are playing well. But we definitely made a big mistake in the first half by playing their style, the half-court game. They had a really big advantage, are more physical and have many good shooters. Congratulations to my players because they believed until the end. We won the game; that's most important. Honestly, not playing a good game, but it was the most important thing, winning the game."

"Congratulations to my players on the victory and their energy. It is a very important victory for our confidence. We are on a good track only if everyone gives their maximum. In the first half, we played other than our game plan, but in the second half we played faster and that was the most important thing."

ERNAK, SELCUK
Darussafaka Tekfen Istanbul
"Congratulations to Buducnost VOLI. We knew it would be a real competitive game. It is a totally different team than played in the first half of season. New head coach, new main players. We did a good job in defending their guards, we had 17 assists, we had 40% for three-point shooting. But we had too many turnovers; 17 is just too much."

Players

COLE, NORRIS
Buducnost VOLI Podgorica
"We didn't start the game the way we wanted to, but we regrouped at halftime, stayed together and believed in each other, and we had a lot more energy in the second half. Energy, defense and execution were the keys to this game. We had to make sure we got stops and then we wanted to play at our pace. Ed [Jackson] came out real big in the second half. He was making big shots for us and Big G [Goda Bitadze] down there was controlling the paint, and captain [Nemanja Gordic] was getting his hands in a lot of loose balls and that allowed us to play at our pace. That is what we want to do."
JACKSON, EDWIN
Buducnost VOLI Podgorica
"For us, it gives us a little bit of hope to keep going. We've got two important games coming up at home, where everything is possible. It is a lot easier for us to play at home, even when we played good against Maccabi, with a lot more energy, but we beat big teams at home and have Madrid and Gran Canaria coming. For us, it was very important not to be the last-place team. Now we can put our heads up a bit more and try to see what is coming next. We always put a lot of heart and sometimes it goes in our favor, sometimes the game will slip away. But today we got lucky and I hope this win turns our luck a little bit."
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