Matt Walsh scored 12 points in a 16-2 run to start the fourth quarter as Asvel Basket came back from a third-quarter double-figure deficit to beat Besiktas ColaTurka 88-85 on Tuesday at the Astroballe. Walsh finished with 23 points and 7 assists to pace Asvel, which won its first Eurocup game and kept Besiktas winless. After a tight and entertaining first half, Besiktas looked to pull away and built an 11-point gap in the third quarter, however Walsh came to the rescue when he was most needed and guided his team to the win. Davon Jefferson added 13 points and 10 rebounds for Asvel, Cliff Hammonds had 10 points and 6 assists and Andrija Zizic scored 10 for the winners. Michal Ignerski netted 22 for Besiktas in defeat, Fedor Likholitov scored 19 and Mire Chatman tallied 13 points and 7 assists. Allen Iverson recorded 4 points, 4 assists and 3 steals for Besiktas in defeat. The two teams square off again next week in Istanbul.

Walsh opened the scoring for Asvel and Ignerski matched him for the visitors. Besiktas soon had its first lead when Ignerski nailed a triple and Chatman took a steal in for a layup. Hammonds’s triple quickly put the advantage back with the hosts at 9-8. The lead continued to switch hands often in a high-scoring first quarter. After Iverson tied the score at 18-18, Asvel jumped ahead when Zizic scored on the offensive glass and Walsh and Jefferson got baskets off of steals. Chatman and A.J. Oglivy kept it close so that Serhat Cetin could put Besiktas up 26-27 with a triple at the end of the first quarter. A pair of baskets in the paint by Zizic put Asvel back on top. Cetin stayed hot with an assists to Oglivy for a slam and then a basket of his own, but Zizic kept Asvel ahead. Cevher Ozer ushered in the change with a triple that put the visitors on top and then Likholitov and Bekir Yarangume added baskets in a 0-8 run. Cuneyt Erden struck from downtown to make it 36-42. Oglivy made his presence felt with two more big scores surrounding an important Jefferson triple to make it 40-46 at halftime.

Hammonds looked to ignite Asvel with the first basket of the second half, but Besiktas had other plans. Chatman, Oglivy and Ignerski stretched the visitors’ lead to 8. And Iverson made it 45-55 midway through the quarter. Leo Westermann tried to give Asvel a boost, but Ignerski gave Besiktas its biggest lead, 47-58, from the line. Help came from the Asvel bench when Paul Lacombe netted a triple and added a steal and layup to help create a 7-0 run that made it 56-59. Still, free throws by Chatman and Ozer put Besiktas ahead 56-64 with 10 minutes to go. Bangaly Fofana battled for an offensive rebound and basket and then Walsh made a triple as Asvel found hope. Walsh made it a 1-point game before Ignerski made 2 free throws. But Asvel continued to roll. A Jefferson slam and a Walsh three-point play swelled the lead even more. Walsh added 2 free throws to give him 12 points in a 16-2 Asvel run that made it 72-66. Despite the Asvel momentum, Besiktas was still close and Likholitov scored from the field and the line to put his team back in control. Ignerski made it 74-73 with a clutch triple. Mickael Gelabale and Kim Tillie managed to keep Asvel a nose ahead. Tillie played tough in the final minutes and Walsh and Hammonds sank clutch free throws allowing Asvel to stay just ahead of Besiktas to secure the win as a sigh of relief could be heard after a tough come-from-behind win.