Bader's free throws give Olaj prestigious win

Szolnoki Olaj finished its first-ever Eurocup season with a historical win by edging Besiktas Integral Forex Istanbul 67-68 in Group D on the road on Wednesday. Olaj finished Group D with a 3-7 record and registered its first-ever Eurocup road win in its last game in the competition this season. Besiktas was second in Group D with a 7-3 record and had run out of chances to clinch first place when Khimki Moscow Region downed Zenit St. Petersburg earlier on today. Lazeric Jones paced the winners with 18 points. David Vojvoda added 13 while Akos Keller had 11 for Olaj. Chris Lofton led Besiktas with 24 points. John Holland added 11 for the hosts. Olaj had a great start of the game and led 15-30 midway through the second quarter. Besiktas cut its deficit to 26-35 at halftime and took the lead, 62-61, on a dunk by Holland. It all came down to the final minute, in which Jones and Lofton traded three-pointer and free throws by Marton Bader kept Olaj the lead for good, as Besiktas could not score in the final seconds.

Jones and Stefan Sinovec gave Olaj an early 0-4 lead. Lofton stepped up with back-to-back layups and a jumper by JaJuan Johnson tied it at 6-6. Jones kept pacing Olaj, however, and three-pointers by Keller and Vojvoda allowed the guests to get a 10-16 margin after 10 minutes. Kenan Barjamovic and Strahinja Milosevic exchanged triples early in the second quarter and a jumper by Sinovec soon made it a double-digit game, 13-23. Patrick Miller tried to change things with a layup but Bader and Sergerio Gipson combined for all points in a 0-7 run which made all Besiktas fans start to wonder at 15-30. Hilton Armstrong stepped up with consecutive slams and a three-pointer by Lofton brought Besiktas back to life, 26-33. A layup by Keller fixed the halftime score at 26-35. Lofton sank a jumper immedoiately after the break but a layup by Sinovec and a three-pointer by Strahinja Milosevic restored a 28-40 Olaj margin. Ryan Broekhoff struck from downtown, igniting an 8-0 run which Armstrong capped with a free throw for a 36-40 Besiktas deficit. Vojvoda rescued Olaj with a triple and a jumper which Keller followed with another shot from downtown for a 40-50 score. Lofton and Johnson cut Besiktas's deficit to 45-50 after 30 minutes. Jones and Sinovec took over early in the fourth quarter for a 51-57 Olaj lead with 6 minutes left. Vojovoda struck again from downtown but Holland and an unstoppable Lofton brought Besiktas as close as 58-61. Holland followed a jumper with a dunk for a 62-61 score with over 2 minutes left. The game was as many as 5 lead changes in crunch time - Jones hit a three-pointer for a 64-66 edge, Lofton answered from downtown but free throws by Bader restored a 67-68 Olaj lead with 10 seconds left. Lofton and Broekhoff missed respective shots in the final seconds.