Besiktas roars back from 18 down to win Istanbul derby

Besiktas JK Istanbul came back from an 18-point deficit to beat city rival Fenerbahce Ulker Istanbul 80-73 and finish off its Turkish Airlines Euroleague Top 16 Group F campaign with a victory. Daniel Ewing scored 17 points and Damir Markota had 16 points for Besiktas, which took seventh place in the group with a 2-12 record. Ricky Minard added 13 points while Gasper Vidmar had 10 points for the winners. The 7-point margin meant Fenerbahce finished last in the group with a 2-12 record despite 14 points from Oguz Savas, 12 points by Uros Tripkovic and 10 from Ikman Karaman. Bo McCalebb scored 9 points in the first five minutes, but left the game injured.

First quarter: Fenerbahce continues hot start despite McCalebb injury

Besiktas coach Erman Kunter made two changes to his starting lineup with Patrick Christopher and Cevher Ozer coming on for Muratcan Guler and Markota alongside Ewing, Vidmar and Minard. Fenerbahce boss Ertugrul Erdogan put in Tripkovic and David Andersen for Omer Onan and Karaman with McCalebb, Romain Sato and Savas the others of the first five. Andersen started the game with a jumper while Christopher nailed a triple for Besiktas’s first score. McCalebb answered right back with a three-ball, two layups and two free throws to give Fenerbahce a 6-11 lead. McCalebb had to leave the game after the second layup and was unable to return. Ewing hit back for Besiktas and Christopher evened the game at 11-11 with a triple. Tripkovic however came right back down and drained a long ball before back-to-back baskets from Kaya Peker pushed the Fenerbahce advantage to 13-18. Vidmar and Minard both made two foul shots to keep Besiktas within 17-20. But McCalebb’s replacement Baris Ermis scored, followed by a Tripkovic long ball and another Peker basket to give Fenerbahce a 17-27 lead after one quarter.

Second quarter: Strong Karaman helps Fenerbahce push lead to 18 points

Fenerbahce opened the second quarter with a tough Ermis layup and a triple by Karaman for a 17-32 lead and a Besiktas timeout. That didn’t help much as Peker came out of the interruption with another score to make it 17-34. Tutku Acik finally put the hosts on the board after two minutes of action with two free throws. Karaman made a free throw and threw down a dunk to push the lead to 20-37 before an Ozer triple. Karaman continued his fine game with another slam on the fast break as Fenerbahce pulled ahead 23-41. Acik nailed another triple but the guests were still up 27-45 after Savas’s score. Besiktas finished the first half on a strong note though with Markota making two free throws followed by a Minard layup and a Markota dunk to pull within 33-46 at the break.

Third quarter: Markota, Minard sparks Besiktas comeback

Savas opened the second half to make it 33-48 but Minard nailed a triple from the right side for Besiktas. Markota then made two free throws and his third free throw was tipped in by Fenerbahce’s Karaman for two more points and Minard’s foul shot completed the 0-8 run to pull the hosts within 41-48. Tripkovic snapped the surge with a triple and the advantage was 41-53 after Karaman’s dunk. Ewing responded with a triple of his own and Vidmar’s layup had Besiktas to within 46-55. Minard would follow with a triple and Ewing converted a three-point play to trim the deficit to 52-57. Ozer was called for an unsportsmanlike foul with Savas making two free throws, which Vidmar matched at the other end to make it 54-59. Ozer continued the Besiktas push with a straight-on triple and Markota’s tip-in evened the game at 59-59 after three quarters.

Fourth quarter: Ewing steps up to help Besiktas pull away

Minard continued his superb game with a layup to start the fourth, matched by Bojan Bogdanovic, who then nailed a long ball for a 63-64 Fenerbahce lead. Ewing came back down with a layup and then a three-ball for a four-point margin – 68-64. Tripkovic answered with a trey of his own but Markota struck right back from long range for a 71-67 lead with four minutes to play. After a Ewing free throw pushed it to a five-point lead, Bogdanovic drained a three-pointer from the left corner to make it 72-70. But Markota hit a layup and then Ewing put back his own miss for a 77-71 lead with 1:24 to play. Emir Preldzic made a layup to pull Fenerbahce within 77-73 with 46 seconds to play but Markota finished off the game for sure with a lay-in with 29 seconds remaining. And Ewing’s free throw with 2.4 seconds to play gave Besiktas the important 7-point margin to pull ahead of Fenerbahce in the final group standings.