2017-18Top 16Round 4
ALBA Berlin 66
Darussafaka Istanbul 79
January 24, 2018 CET: 20:15
Local time: 20:15 MERCEDES-BENZ ARENA

Darussafaka advances as Baygul fires up win in Berlin

Darussafaka Istanbul roared undefeated into the 7DAYS EuroCup Quarterfinals with a resounding 66-79 road win over ALBA Berlin on Wednesday. At 4-0 in Group E, Darussafaka is assured to advance to the quarters, while short-handed ALBA fell to 1-3. ALBA led 21-11 after an early 19-5 outburst, but Darussafaka met that run with its own of 6-19 to take control before halftime. After ALBA regained a 47-46 edge late in the third quarter, the visitors responded with a 0-11 escape that proved the difference. Muhammed Baygul paced the winners with a career-high 18 points on 5-for-6 shooting from the arc. Scottie Wilbekin followed with 16 points, Howard Sant-Roos 15 and Michael Eric 10. Luke Sikma had 15 points for ALBA, 11 of which came in the first quarter. Joshiko Saibou added 14 and Marius Grigonis 12 for the home team.

With guards Peyton Siva and Spencer Butterfield injured, ALBA newcomer Steve Vasturia got a start in his first EuroCup appearance. Sikma and JaJuan Johnson started the scoring before Sant-Roos dunked off a steal and James Bell off a block to put Darussafaka ahead 2-6. Grigonis and Sikma combined one 9 points in between which Vasturia hit from downtown as ALBA went ahead 14-11. Stefan Peno made free throws and Grigonis fed Sikma to extend the lead to 19-11, forcing a Darussafaka timeout. Grigonis was perfect at the line, too, getting the ALBA run to 19-5 before Eric and Sant-Roos ended it for Darussafaka, but the hosts held a 23-17 lead after 10 minutes. Strong defense combined with scoring from Johnson and Bell got Darussafaka close enough for Eric to take the lead at 25-26. Wilbekin, scoreless until then, added a four-point play at 25-30, giving Darussafaka a 6-19 run. After a series of free throws, Sant-Roos fed Baygul for a three-pointer and their team's biggest lead yet, 29-37. One of several young players out there for both teams, Jonas Mattisseck, scored last for ALBA to keep the hosts within 34-40 at halftime.

Dennis Clifford and Baygul opened the second-half scoring before Sikma and Mattisseck, from downtown, drew ALBA within 41-42. Sant-Roos made 4 of 4 free throws, but Niels Giffey and Grigonis combined on the next 6 points to put ALBA ahead 47-46. Sant-Roos and Wilbekin, from long range, reclaimed the lead for Darussafaka. Then Wilbekin struck again from the same spot and Baygul copied him to suddenly make it 47-57 at the end of three quarters. Saibou and Baygul traded triples to start the fourth quarter. Saibou's put-back was then matched by Wilbekin's drive before Eric stuffed a miss for another high lead for Darussafaka, 52-64. Baygul hit his fourth and fifth triples while Sant-Roos stole and dunked backwards as Darussafaka put the finishing touches on a sweep of ALBA to run headlong into the next round.

Howard Sant-Roos - Darussafaka Istanbul (photo ALBA - Andreas Knopf) - EC17
Wednesday, January 24, 2018
Eurocupbasketball.com
Referees: RADOVIC, SRETEN; PETEK, SASO; RACYS, SAULIUS
Attendance: 6754
By Quarter1234
ALBA Berlin23111319
Darussafaka Istanbul17231722
End of Quarter1234
ALBA Berlin23344766
Darussafaka Istanbul17405779
ALBA Berlin
  Rebounds Blocks Fouls
# Player Min Pts 2FG 3FG FT O D T As St To Fv Ag Cm Rv PIR
1 SAIBOU, JOSHIKO 22:43 14 4/8 2/4   1 1 2 1 1 1   1 3 2 9
5 GIFFEY, NIELS 15:03 4 1/1 0/3 2/2   2 2 1   1     1 2 4
7 VASTURIA, STEVE 7:53 3   1/3             1     1   -1
9 MATTISSECK, JONAS 13:51 4 2/2 0/4     1 1     1       1 1
10 SCHNEIDER, TIM 7:14   0/1               1         -2
11 VARGAS, AKEEM 11:15 1 0/3   1/2   2 2           1 1 -1
13 GRIGONIS, MARIUS 32:39 12 1/4 0/1 10/10 1 2 3 4 1 1     3 9 21
15 RADOSAVLJEVIC, BOGDAN 11:17 2 1/1   0/4   3 3   1 1     3 3 1
42 CLIFFORD, DENNIS 22:03 8 3/7   2/3 4 1 5 2 1 2     4 3 8
43 SIKMA, LUKE 29:53 15 4/5 1/1 4/6 2 2 4 5 1 3     3 4 20
44 PENO, STEFAN 26:09 3 0/1 0/1 3/4   3 3 2   2   1 3 2 1
Team           4 2 6     2         4
Totals 200:00 66 16/33 4/17 22/31 12 19 31 15 5 16 0 2 22 27 65
        48.5% 23.5% 71%
Head coach: GARCIA RENESES, AITO
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 Istanbul
  Rebounds Blocks Fouls
# Player Min Pts 2FG 3FG FT O D T As St To Fv Ag Cm Rv PIR
0 KIDD, STANTON 16:26   0/1 0/4   2 5 7 3   1     3   1
1 WILBEKIN, SCOTTIE 33:01 16 2/6 3/8 3/4 1 4 5 3 2 2     3 5 16
3 OZMIZRAK, KARTAL 12:26 3 1/1 0/3 1/2   2 2 2 1       1 1 4
5 BAYGUL, MUHAMMED 25:12 18 1/3 5/6 1/2 2 3 5 2 2       2 5 26
12 CUMMINGS, WILL 2:29   0/1       1 1     1     2   -3
13 ULUBAY, OKBEN 3:59   0/1     1   1                
18 OZDEMIROGLU, DOGUS DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
19 ALDEMIR, FURKAN 12:48       0/2 2   2     1     3 1 -3
23 SANT-ROOS, HOWARD 33:58 18 4/4 1/3 7/7   2 2 2 3 3 1   2 6 25
25 JOHNSON, JAJUAN 26:52 8 4/7 0/2 0/2 4 1 5 1   2 1   3 1 4
31 BELL, JAMES 10:52 6 3/3 0/2     1 1 1   1     4 3 4
50 ERIC, MICHAEL 21:57 10 5/7     2   2 1   2     4   5
Team             2 2     1         1
Totals 200:00 79 20/34 9/28 12/19 14 21 35 15 8 14 2 0 27 22 80
        58.8% 32.1% 63.2%
Head coach: BLATT, DAVID

Head Coaches

GARCIA RENESES, AITO
ALBA Berlin
"It's too much for us with important players like Peyton Siva and Spencer Butterfield injured; with others like Bennett Hundt and Kresimir Nikic injured, too; and with players coming off injuries, like Niels Giffey and Bogdan Radosavljevic, who are not in their best moments. And for us, one thing is to have the experience to play, because we have a young team. It's one thing to help a few minutes, and another to play a lot of minutes. This is very, very difficult. All we need is to have Boggy and Niels in better shape and to recover the other players. I am not disappointed with our players because they did the maximum they could, despite not playing always with the most intensity. We need to be in better shape and recover players. Otherwise, it's very difficult."
BLATT, DAVID
Darussafaka Istanbul
"Sometimes when you play a team missing a player the caliber of Peyton Siva, the other guys sort of lift their level, play a little harder, play with a little bit more responsibility. I thought that Berlin started the game beautifully, obviously had a great first quarter. We found our rhythm in the end of the first quarter and by the end of the second we just sort of dominated the game. It was just a fight all the way through. It's not easy to win on the road. It's not easy to win at this stage of the competition. For us, that was very important and I'm happy. Nobody gave us too much chances in the beginning of the season, because we're a very young team, I believe the youngest in the competition on average. But our guys like to play and compete and that's what you need to be successful."

Players

MATTISSECK, JONAS
ALBA Berlin
"We missed a couple of plays after which they scored a couple of threes. We also missed Peyton. But Darussafaka is a good team. We did everything to win, but it didn't help. Everything is still possible, though."