Darussafaka Tefken Istanbul is one of the 7DAYS EuroCup’s top rebounding teams and it was the tenacity of Johnathan Hamilton and the rest of the Turkish team on the offensive glass that moved it onto the doorstep of the Top 16. Darussafaka out-rebounded Joventut Badalona 47-33 in grabbing a 92-86 victory to put itself in a great spot to advance to the next stage in Round 9. Darussafaka grabbed 26 offensive rebounds in the game and turned those into 22 second-chance points, which were invaluable especially as Joventut got a career-high 30 points from Klemen Prepelic.

Leading the fight on the boards for Darussafaka - as usual - was Hamilton, who collected 8 points, 13 rebounds and 4 blocks. Hamilton grabbed 9 offensive rebounds, tying him for seventh on the all-time single-game tally - just 2 rebounds off the record. His 13 boards tied for the second-most by any player in a Darussafaka uniform. His performance left Hamilton first in the EuroCup in offensive rebounds with 4.4 per game. Hamilton is also tops in blocks with 2.1 per game.

But Hamilton was not alone in crashing the boards as Jarrod Jones and Bonzie Colson both grabbed 4 offensive rebounds in the game. The importance of those boards showed in the closing moments as 2 Darussafaka offensive rebounds resulted in a huge three-pointer by Jones to make it 83-78 with 1:23 minutes left. All game, Darussafaka was able to take advantage of those extra possessions.

Another key to the game was Kartal Ozmizrak, who scored a career-high 18 points to go with 4 assists and 4 steals. Ozmizrak had been important all game off the bench and he nailed a critical fourth three-pointer with 30 seconds left to make it 86-80. He added 4 more points down the stretch to give Darussafaka the win.