Besiktas IF survives overtime for road win over Zenit


Besiktas Integral Forex Istanbul turned things around after blowing a double-digit third-quarter lead to defeat Zenit St. Petersburg 86-90. Chris Lofton scored 8 of his game-high 32 points to lead Besiktas to its first win in Group D. Zenit hosted the game at Basket Hall in Kazan, Russia, home of Turkish Airlines Euroleague club Unics Kazan. Lofton made 7 of 12 threes for Besiktas, while JaJuan Johnson also stood out with 21 points and 12 rebounds, while Ryan Broekhoff tallied 17 points and 3 steals and Kerem Tunceri dished 8 assists. For Zenit, which lost its second straight nail-biter, Walter Hodge starred with 20 points and 9 assists and Cameron Jones scored 19. Dmitry Kulagin added 16 points and Dejan Borovnjak had 12 in defeat.

A pair of Broekhoff triples helped Besiktas to a 4-8 start. Hodge quickly tied it for Zenit and Kulagin’s steal and slam put the hosts up 14-13. Lofton scored 7 points in a 0-9 Besiktas surge. Hodge trimmed the deficit to 19-23 with a three on the first-quarter buzzer. Borovnjak put the hosts in front 25-24 early in the second quarter. Kyle Landry connected from downtown to give Zenit a 4-point cushion, but a pair of Lofton threes soon evened things at 34-34. The pace picked up with baskets on seven of eight possessions, at the end of which a Broekhoff three made it 42-43. Kulagin free throws and a Tunceri layup made it 44-45 at halftime.

Kulagin free throws gave Zenit the lead to start the third quarter, but a Lofton basket-plus-foul triggered what would be a 0-10 charge, which saw Johnson scored half the points. Engin Atsur buried a three to give Besiktas a double-digit advantage. The lead peaked at 49-60 after a Dogan Senli slam. Hodge and Dmitrii Gordeev netted three-pointers to bring Zenit with 3 before Johnson left Besiktas up 57-62 through three quarters. A Jones three a minute into the fourth quarter tied the score. After a timeout, Lofton’s steal and assist to Broekhoff for a layup were followed by 5 more Lofton points as Besiktas claimed a 66-74 advantage. A Kulagin three kept Zenit in the hunt, down 4, with two minutes left. Jones scored in the break and then added free throws with 1:10 left to tie the game at 76-76. Johnson scored for Besiktas on the ensuing possession, but after John Holland missed free throws to make it a two-possession game, Landry tied the game with 15 seconds remaining and Besiktas came up empty on its final possession in overtime.

Neither team led by more than a shot in the first four minutes of the extra session. That changed when Lofton buried his second three and eighth points of overtime to make it 84-88 with 49 seconds remaining. Free throws by Hodge and Holland kept the difference at 4. After a timeout, Kulagin missed a critical three with 5 seconds left and when Holland corralled the rebound, he also secured a Besiktas victory.