Carried by its faithful fans and a hot hand of Chris Lofton, Besiktas Integral Forex Istanbul rallied in the second half to a big 88-71 win over Nizhny Novgorod in Game 1 of the Eurocup Eighthfinals. The second leg will be played next week in Nizhny Novgorod, Russia, and a victory or a loss by up to 16 points will be enough for Besiktas to advance. The hosts made an early run for 18-6 lead after 10 minutes, but the visitors came back behind Taylor Rochestie in the second quarter to take 34-35 halftime advantage, and opened up 40-47 margin in the third quarter. But Lofton and Ryan Broekhoff sparked Besiktas to a spurt that did not stop until the final minutes, as the hosts scored 48 points in the remaining time and built as many as a 22-point lead late in the game. Lofton finished with 28 points on 6-for-10 three-point shooting, while Doron Perkins had 12 points, 7 rebounds and 5 assists. Mehmet Yagmur and Broekhoff also scored 12 apiece, as Besiktas hit 11 triples in victory. Rochestie led the visitors with 22 points and 8 assists, while Semen Antonov had 19 points, 10 rebounds and 4 assists in defeat.

Besiktas got it going from the start with Perkins and Murcatan Guler, while Broekhoff hit one from downtown. The visitors grabbed a few offensive rebounds, and Evgeny Baburing cut it to 8-6, but Lofton hit a jumper and a triple to spark a 10-0 run, as Broekhoff and Guler capped it to give Besiktas 18-6 lead after 10 minutes. Rochestie opened the second quarter with a triple and a pair of jumpers, and assisted Dimitriy Khvostov for a triple that cut it to 20-18. Yagmur hit a triple for the hosts, and after Antonov buried one for Nizhny Novgorod, a three-pointer from Lofton made it 31-23. However, Antonov and Primoz Brezec sparked a 2-12 run for the visitors, capped with back-to-back triples from Khvostov and Baburin, as Nizhny Novgorod took 34-35 lead into halftime.

Antonov hit a pair of jumpers, extending it to 34-41 early in the third. Lofton hit a triple for Besiktas, but Rochestie scored a basket-plus-foul and a triple for 40-47. However, Lofton and Broekhoff hit from downtown for the hosts to get them within 1 points, before a layup from Broekhoff and a last second triple from Lofton, his fifth, made it 57-52 after three quarters. Yagmur extended it to 8 points at the start of the fourth, and after Antonov and Khvostov briefly kept the visitors in range, Lofton’s another three-pointer made it 67-58. Moments later, Lofton’s jumper sparked an 8-0 run for Besiktas, as Perkins, Guler and Tomislav Ruzic all contributed for 82-64 lead. Rochestie hit a jumper for Nizhny, but Caner Topaloglu hit a triple and Guler scored a layup for 88-66. In the final minute of the game, Vadim Panin hit a three, and Antonov had a dunk for the visitors, cutting the margin to 17 points.