Besiktas Integral Forex Istanbul nearly wasted a 23-point second half lead in holding off Bisons Loimaa 61-60 on the road in a Eurocup Group H thriller. Besiktas scored just two field goals and five points in the fourth quarter but Loimaa’s Billy Keys missed two potential game-winning three-pointers in the final 29 seconds to give Besiktas the victory. Chris Lofton scored 20 points for Besiktas, which improved to 2-1 after collecting its second straight road win. Bradley Buckman and Colton Iverson both added nine points for the winners. Frank Robinson and Keys each tallied 19 points and combined for nine rebounds, five assists and four steals for Bisons, which dropped to 1-2 in the group.

Iverson scored 4 points as Besiktas jumped out to an 0-11 lead. Keys finally got the hosts on the board with a three-pointer after three minutes of action. They hit another trey and it was 8-11. The Besiktas lead went back-and-forth between four and six points the rest of the quarter and the guests were up 18-22 after 10 minutes. Robinson twice cut the margin down to two points but Lofton nailed two long balls to give Besiktas some breathing room at 22-30. Ralph Sampson made it 24-30 before the guests went on an 0-9 surge over 5:29 minutes for a 24-39 lead. The cushion was 26-42 at halftime. Buckman’s trey finished an 0-7 spurt to start the second half for a 26-49 advantage. Robinson and Keys began to take over the game, combining for 15 points in a 17-2 Bisons run to cut the deficit to 43-51. Lofton ended the run with three free throws and Besiktas was up 45-56 after three quarters. Tuukka Kotti started the fourth with a triple and the guests finally hit their first shot of the period at the 5 minute mark with a Tomislav Ruzic basket for a 48-58 lead. Ryan Broekhoff scored the only other Besiktas basket in the quarter with a three-ball with 2:21 minutes remaining to make it 53-61. Keys sandwiched four free throws around a three-ball to pull Bisons within 60-61 with 1:06 to play. After Keys missed a three-pointer with 29 seconds left, Muratcan Guler was off-target with a trey with 8 seconds remaining, leaving one more chance for the hosts to win but Keys’ three-point attempt at the buzzer didn’t go in.