Darussafaka survive battle with Joventut
Darussafaka Tekfen Istanbul took a big step towards reaching the Top 16 by surviving a battle with Joventut Badalona 92-86 at home. Kartal Ozmizrak scored a career-high 18 points and Gary Browne hit for 17 points with 11 fouls drawn for Darussafaka, which improved to 5-3 in Group C. Jarrod Jones added 15 points and 6 rebounds, Sinan Guler had 14 points and Johnathan Hamilton chipped in 8 points, 13 rebounds and 4 blocks for the winners. Joventut dropped to 4-4 despite a career-high 30 points from Klemen Prepelic, while Conor Morgan had 14 points off the bench and Nenad Dimitrijevic added 13 points and 7 assists.
After Prepelic got the visitors on the board first with a three-pointer, Darussafaka tallied 6 straight points to lead 8-5. A Prepelic layup pushed Joventut back ahead 8-9 before Guler tallied 5 straight as the hosts went back up and led 16-10. Joventut responded with back-to-back-to-back three-pointers - including 2 from Dimitijevic - to nose ahead 18-19, but Bonzie Colson knocked down a three at the buzzer and the hosts led 21-19 after 10 minutes. Guler continued his fine game in helping get the lead to 25-19, which was answered by a Morgan triple to trim it to one point. Ozmizrak countered at the other end with back-to-back triples and Darussafaka led 33-26. Prepelic scored 7 points in a row to keep Joventut close at 39-35, but Berk Demir came up with a block and three-pointer to spark a 7-0 finish to the first half and a 46-35 lead.
Dogus Ozdemiroglu came off the Darussafaka bench for two baskets as the lead swelled to 54-40. Prepelic continually fought to get Joventut closer with 2 three-pointers and 2 free throws to make it 54-45. Guler answered with a three-pointer and 4 more points as the gap grew to 63-48. Joventut managed 6 straight points to trim the deficit to single digits, but Demir’s layup just before the buzzer had Darussafaka ahead 65-54 after 30 minutes. It was all about trying to make a dent in the deficit for Joventut with Nikos Zisis scoring twice early only to see an Ozmizrak triple make it 70-58. Prepelic tallied a three-point play and two triples in three possessions to close within 76-71, but Jones punched back with his eighth point of the quarter. Joventut would not go away and Luke Harangody nailed a triple for his first points and an 80-78 game with 2 minutes left. Darussafaka was better executing down the stretch though with Jones nailing a three-pointer after the hosts grabbed 2 offensive rebounds and Ozmizrak’s three-pointer made it 86-80 with 30 seconds to play. Ozmizrak added 2 more free throws and a basket to finish the deal.
Road woes
Joventut continued its road struggles as it lost away from home for the fourth time. The Spanish side is 4-0 at home this EuroCup season and 0-4 on the road.
Pivotal performer
Kartal Ozmizrak was outstanding off the bench as he nailed 4 three-pointers in scoring a career-high 18 points while also collecting 1 rebound, 4 assists and 4 steals for a PIR of 18.
Telling numbers
Darussafaka shot just 47.9 percent on two-pointers and turned the ball over 18 times, but the hosts grabbed 26 offensive rebounds in winning the battle of the boards 47-33 and turned those extra possessions into 22 second-chance points.
Next games
Darussafaka will be back at home for the next game on Tuesday, December 10 against Germani Brescia Leonessa, while Joventut will host UNICS Kazan on December 11.

Wednesday, November 20, 2019
Eurocupbasketball.com