Jones game winner lifts Monaco in Istanbul

Lazeric Jones made a tough runner in a crowd with 3.6 seconds left that gave AS Monaco a thrilling 85-86 road win over Galatasaray Istanbul on Wednesday night at Sinan Erdem Dome. In a highly-entertaining clash that continuously went back and forth, Derek Needham netted 29 points and Yakuba Ouattara scored 24 leading Monaco to it third road win in as many games. Monaco improved its record to 3-1, while dropping Galatasaray to 2-2. Aaron Harrison scored 20 of his 24 points in the first half for Galatasaray.

The teams traded blows from the get-go, with Ouattara and Needham on one end, and Harrison on the other, all sinking triples. When Zach Auguste joined Harrison with baskets inside, the hosts opened an 18-12 lead, but Needham quickly answered for Monaco. Galatasaray led 25-22 after one quarter before Harrison's fourth and fifth triples made it 31-22. But Needham and Ouattara each hit from long range again to get the visitors within a single point. Needham's fastbreak layup gave Monaco a 32-34 edge midway through the second quarter. The score was tied at 41-41 at halftime, but more threes from Ouattara and then from Needham made it 52-58 after six minutes in the third quarter. But Klobucar and Nigel Hayes rallied the hosts, before Needham's triple made it 62-65 at the end of third quarter. The teams continued trading baskets and Klobucar's triple at the midway point of the fourth quarter made it 77-73. Ouattara and Needham hit back-to-back threes to spark Monaco's 0-11 run, but Galatasaray answered with an 8-0 run, with Klobucar hitting a three with 13.4 seconds to go to make it 85-84. After Jones scored on the other end, the ball went to Klobucar under the basket, but he missed a reverse layup and Monaco held on for victory.

Exciting finish

The game looked decided when Jarrod Jones made a floater to cap a 0-11 run with 1:40 to go that gave Monaco a 77-84 lead. But Marko Arapovic cut the deficit with a three-pointer, before Jaka Klobucar hit a three with 13.4 seconds remaining to cap an 8-0 run and give Galatasaray an 85-84 edge. However, Jones took the ball, took it to the basket, and made a floater high off the glass to win the game. Galatasaray had a final possession, but Klobucar's layup attempt just missed.

Stellar stat

Derek Needham nailed 7 triples on 12 attempts and finished with 29 points. He also dished 5 assists. Needham joined T.J. Campbell of Turk Telekom Ankara as the only to players to hit 7 triples so far this season. Campbell was 7 of 12 the night before in a victory over Dolomiti Energia Trento.

Bad luck

Monaco arrived to Istanbul with 10 players, missing the injured Amara Sy, Kevin Cham and Gerald Robinson. Then, during the warmups, Paul Lacombe was injured, too. That left coach Saso Filipovski with only nine players for the game.

Did you catch?

Aaron Harrison was hot to start the game. In the first 12 minutes he shots 5 of 5 from long range, made all 3 free throws, and a two-pointer to reach 20 points. However, he cooled off and finished with 24 points for the night.

Movers and shakers

Needham and Ouatarra combined to score 53 of Monaco's 86 points. Lazeric Jones, who had the game-winner, finished with 12 points. The hosts had four players in double figures. In addition to Harrison, Tai Webster tallied 15 points and 8 assists, Marko Arapovic scored 13 and Zach Auguste had 12 points in defeat.

Next game

In Round 5, Galatasaray travels to the Serbian capital to face Group A leaders Crvena Zvezda mts Belgrade, while Monaco hosts MoraBanc Andorra in a historic clash between clubs from two European principalities: the Principality of Andorra and Principality of Monaco.