2017-18QuarterfinalsGame 2
March 09, 2018 CET: 19:00
Local time: 19:00 MORACA

Darussafaka follows Wilbekin into semis!

Darussafaka Istanbul advanced to the semifinals for the first time by defeating host Buducnost VOLI Podgorica 71-78 on Friday to sweep their series in the minimum two games. Despite missing injured James Bell and defensive ace Howard Sant Roos, the visitors had all the answers and managed comfortable leads all night. Regular season MVP Scottie Wilbekin led the charge with 22 points and 4 assists, while Jajuan Johnson had 12 points, Stanton Kidd 11 and Muhammed Baygul 10 for the winners. Kyle Gibson poured in 19 points, Nikola Ivanovic 16 and Justin Doellman 11 for Buducnost, but poor free throw and three-point shooting doomed the hosts. Darussafaka's defense held Buducnost to 2 field goals over a 14-minute stretch of the first half, which resulted in a 26-39 halftime advantage thanks to a three-point buzzer-beater by Kartal Ozmizrak. Wilbekin's deep triple padded the visitors' biggest lead, 46-64, early in the fourth quarter before Buducnost narrowed it to 71-78 in the final minute before running out of time.

Michael Eric and Gibson traded baskets to start the scoring. Baygul and Zoran Nikolic did the same and Nemanja Gordic's slashing layup gave Buducnost its first lead, 6-4. Wilbekin joined the scorers, but Gibson matched him. Free throws from Ozmizrak and Wilbekin from way downtown pushed Darussafaka ahead 8-11. Gibson's next basket was answered by Wilbekin, whose steal led to Johnson making a finger roll at 10-15. Will Cummings and Furkan Aldemir added to the Darussafaka lead to conclude a 2-11 run to a 10-19 advantage. Ivanovic ended more than 4 scoreless minutes for Buducnost with a jumper on the buzzer that left a 12-19 score after 10 minutes. Ivanovic opened the second quarter with a layup. Kidd answered with a fastbreak to which Wilbekin added a basket at 14-23. Wilbekin jumped high behind a screen for another deep triple before he and Gibson traded free throws at 17-28. Free throws brought Buducnost closer but Kidd buried a triple and Baygul a runner to make it 22-35. Ivanovic ended Buducnost's 9 minutes without a field goal by driving for a layup, but Ozmizrak beat the halftime buzzer with a corner triple as Darussafaka took a comfortable 26-39 advantage into the locker room.

Danilo Nikolic hit Buducnost's first triple of the night after the break, but Baygul matched him. Gordic found 3 consecutive baskets for the hosts, but it only got them as close as 35-45. Ozmizrak loaded up another triple and soon Johnson made it 37-50. Doellman's three-point play gave Buducnost hope as Wilbekin and Petar Popovic traded baskets. But Johnson kept scoring and Kidd joined him from the corner as the Darussafaka lead reached 46-59 after 30 minutes. Wilbekin drilled another deep triple to open the fourth quarter with the biggest lead yet, 46-62. Back-to-back threes from Ivanovic and Doellman sparked a 10-2 Buducnost run to make it 56-66. Out of timeout, however, Baygul, Wilbekin and Johnson all scored for Darussafaka before Gibson's triple kept the difference at 10 points, 63-73. A heads-up put back by Cummings of his own missed free throw meant a three-point play for Darussafaka, which despite a late three-pointer that cut the difference to 71-78 with 24 seconds left, remained in control and took the series comfortably.

Scottie Wilbekin 2- Darussafaka Istanbul (photo Buducnost - Filip Roganovic) EC17
Friday, March 9, 2018
Eurocupbasketball.com
Referees: GARCIA, JUAN CARLOS; HALLIKO, AARE; TRAWICKI, TOMASZ
Attendance: 2469
By Quarter1234
Buducnost VOLI Podgorica12142025
Darussafaka Istanbul19202019
End of Quarter1234
Buducnost VOLI Podgorica12264671
Darussafaka Istanbul19395978
Buducnost VOLI Podgorica
  Rebounds Blocks Fouls
# Player Min Pts 2FG 3FG FT O D T As St To Fv Ag Cm Rv PIR
2 IVANOVIC, NIKOLA 26:03 16 4/7 2/3 2/2   1 1 3   1     1 3 17
4 SEHOVIC, SUAD 12:23           1 1           2   -1
5 DOELLMAN, JUSTIN 25:33 11 2/5 1/5 4/7 1 4 5         1 2 5 8
8 SEHOVIC, SEAD 11:55 2 0/2   2/2           1   1   1 -1
9 STAROVLAH, MILIC DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
10 GORDIC, NEMANJA 21:28 8 4/8 0/2     2 2 3   1     2 1 5
12 BOJIC, BOGDAN DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
13 ILIC, ALEKSA 10:30   0/2     1 1 2       1   2   -1
19 NIKOLIC, ZORAN 19:44 3 1/1   1/2 4 4 8 1 1 3 1   2 4 12
22 GIBSON, KYLE 32:36 19 4/8 2/3 5/11   1 1 2 1 2   1 3 5 11
30 POPOVIC, PETAR 19:29 8 4/4 0/2   1 2 3   3 1 1   2 1 11
34 NIKOLIC, DANILO 20:19 4   1/2 1/2   2 2           1 2 5
Team             1 1               1
Totals 200:00 71 19/37 6/17 15/26 7 19 26 9 5 9 3 3 17 22 67
        51.4% 35.3% 57.7%
Head coach: DZIKIC, ALEKSANDAR
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 21:09 11 2/3 2/2 1/2   3 3           1 2 13
1 WILBEKIN, SCOTTIE 34:42 22 5/8 3/6 3/4   3 3 4 1 1     2 9 29
3 OZMIZRAK, KARTAL 23:16 8 0/5 2/2 2/2 2 4 6 3       1 2 1 10
5 BAYGUL, MUHAMMED 25:36 10 3/5 1/4 1/2 1 1 2 1 1 1     3 1 5
9 KOSUT, EMIRCAN DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
12 CUMMINGS, WILL 11:08 7 2/2 0/2 3/4 1 2 3   1       2 3 9
13 ULUBAY, OKBEN 23:49 2 1/3 0/1     2 2 4 1 1     2 1 4
18 OZDEMIROGLU, DOGUS DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
19 ALDEMIR, FURKAN 15:09 2 1/3     2 3 5 2 1   1 1 4   4
25 JOHNSON, JAJUAN 33:06 12 6/12     2 2 4 3   3 2 1 4   7
50 ERIC, MICHAEL 12:05 4 2/4     2   2     2     2    
Team           2 2 4     2         2
Totals 200:00 78 22/45 8/17 10/14 12 22 34 17 5 10 3 3 22 17 83
        48.9% 47.1% 71.4%
Head coach: BLATT, DAVID

Head Coaches

DZIKIC, ALEKSANDAR
Buducnost VOLI Podgorica
“We all have to be proud. We represented the club, city and the country in the best way. We were not embarrassed in any game this season, and we played against great teams. It might happen that all four teams we played against will be in the semifinals. We had a lot of tough tests, and were successful in some of them. If we had better percentages from close range, and especially free throws, who knows what would have happened tonight. But Darussafaka showed individual quality. And the focus and energy they brought into this series maybe shows the respect they had for us, and what a good job we have been doing.”
BLATT, DAVID
Darussafaka Istanbul
“I want to say good words about Buducnost and the year they had in the EuroCup and in the ABA League. They've had terrific results, and more importantly, played fine basketball and developed young players that will be factors in European basketball in the future. That says a lot about the program here. We played even better tonight than we played at home in the first game. Generally, in a short series, particularly the first two, it is more pressure for the home team to play, because it is basically a win-or-go-home in either case. I thought we handled this game in a much better way than Game 1, and perhaps Buducnost felt the pressure of knowing that a loss would mean the end of the series for them. My guys did a terrific job recognizing the moment, playing with great maturity and great responsibility. And this kind of game can make our team stronger. Kartal Ozmizrak gave a great performance. It is not just 8 points, 6 rebounds and 3 assists. You have to understand that recently he has not played a lot. We were missing tonight two starters, James Bell and Howard Sant-Roos, and Kartal got the call and answered in a big game. We don't win a game without his performance today.”

Players

POPOVIC, PETAR
Buducnost VOLI Podgorica
“Darussafaka was better, they deserved to win. But even though we lost there is a sense of pride and happiness of how we played this EuroCup season. We showed that we can play against anyone, we competed home and on the road, and no one had it easy against us. We gave our best tonight, we could have been smarter. We also missed a lot of easy baskets and free throws. But we are proud of our effort.”
OZMIZRAK, KARTAL
Darussafaka Istanbul
“It was a great atmosphere out there, and it was really fun to play in this kind of gym. It gave us a lot of energy, and one of the reasons we played really good today was because of the home fans. We are sending our condolences to Howard Sant-Roos, and we are hoping James Bell will have a great recovery, we will miss him. The semifinals will be tougher that this, but we will have time to get ready. We will do our best, we want to go to the end. We don’t care who is coming to us. If we want to be a champion, you have to face all the teams.”