Fantastic shooting leads Besiktas IF over VEF Riga


A memorable shooting night led Besiktas Integral Forex to an 88-71 victory over VEF Riga on Wednesday in Istanbul. The hosts made 14 of 21 three-pointers (66.7%) in a game they took charge of midway through the first quarter and never looked back. Chris Lofton highlighted the attack with 22 points on 6-of-7 three-point shooting. Ryan Broekhoff was 4 for 4 from downtown for 12 points. Jajuan Johnson scored 18 and John Holland 15 for the winners. Janis Timma and Ryan Broekhoff each made 4 threes too for VEF. Timma scored 18 points and Dillard finished with 14, while Bamba Fall added 13 and Gerald Robinson 12.

Robinson nailed a three and then found Fall for a 0-5 start for VEF. Johnson scored twice before Broekhoff connected from deep for Besiktas’s first lead. Timma evened the score at 14-14 with a shot from downtown. The hosts went inside to Johnson and Hilton Armstrong. Dillard traded threes with Kerem Tunceri. The latter put Besiktas up 5, but Fall closed the gap to 20-23 with a pair of free throws to end the opening quarter. Lofton and Timma traded threes as the visitors hung close. However a pair of triples from Lofton gave Besiktas its first double-digit lead, 41-31. Dillard countered from downtown only to see Broekhoff do the same. Free throws by Johnson at one end and Robinson at the other made it 46-35 at the break.

Holland kept Besiktas’s attack from downtown going early in the second half. Armstrong added free throws and Holland scored inside to make it 54-39. Timma buried a three and Mareks Mejeris kept the run going to cut the difference to 8. Timma carried VEF to within 57-51, but triples from Broekhoff and Holland reestablished a double-digit difference. Dillard made it 64-55 through three quarters. Lofton scored 3 from the line and three from behind the arc as Besiktas looked to put the game away. Dillard and Timma also struck from deep, but Broekhoff made it 75-61 midway through the fourth quarter and VEF never got closer than 10 the rest of the way.