Bursaspor battles back to win in Venice

Frutti Extra Bursaspor roared from 11 points down entering the fourth quarter to stun Umana Reyer Venice 62-70 on the road on Tuesday. The Bursaspor defense held the hosts to 17 points in the entire second half, while Derek Needham led the charge on offense. He finished with 18 points on 4-of-9 three-point shooting plus 4 assists, Allerik Freeman netted 15 points and Egemen Guven added 10. Stefano Tonut paced Reyer with 10 points and 8 rebounds and Mitchell Watt had 10 and 6. The result left both teams with 1-1 records in Group B.

David Dudzinski's reverse layup-and-one gave the visitors an early lead, but Bursaspor's fortunes changed as Reyer scored twice before Freeman hobbled off with an apparent ankle injury. Tarik Phillip had a good start for the hosts and Guven shined in the paint for Bursaspor. A three by Michele Vitali gave Reyer a 10-9 edge after 5 minutes. Jeff Brooks got the hot hand for Reyer though Bursaspor stayed close behind. Freeman returned to the game and made it 18-17 with a three-pointer, but Brooks banked in a jump hook at the other end. Freeman later fed Kevarrius Hayes for a slam, which gave their team a 20-21 lead and prompted a Reyer timeout. A jumper in the lane by Austin Daye put the home side back ahead after one quarter, 22-21.

Martynas Echodas and Victor Sanders helped keep Reyer ahead early in the second quarter. Freeman evened things at 26-26 with his second triple of the game and Guven's mid-range shot gave Bursaspor the lead. Daye took charge to put Reyer back in front and a triple by Julyan Stone made it 33-29 midway through the quarter. Baskets by Tonut and Watt stretched the lead to 8 before Metin Turin ended Bursaspor's drought with a three-point play. Omer Al followed with a steal-plus-layup, but Stone and Tonut took control; the former had 2 assists and a block and the latter scored 6 points in an 8-0 run to finish the half leading 45-34.

Needham made a jumper to open the second-half scoring. Tonut and Vitali stretched the Reyer lead to 49-36 before Needham answered from downtown. The teams traded scores as Freeman buried another three and Watt converted a three-point play. Watt threw down a dunk to finish a spectacular move in transition before Andrew Andrews's free throws gut the visitors within 57-46 at the end of the third quarter.

After a three-point play by Metin Turen and a triple by Freeman, Bursaspor was threatening. Guven finished in the paint to cap a 0-8 run that made it 57-54. Watt scored from close range for Reyer's first points of the fourth quarter. Guven hit back with a hook shot and Needham completed the comeback with a three-pointer for a 60-61 edge with 5 minutes to go. Needham pulled up and scored from almost the same spot on the next possession, too. Freeman danced through the Reyer defense for a layup before a free throw by Andrews concluded a 3-21 start to the quarter and made it 60-67. Reyer was cold even from the line where Watt and De Nicolao each split free throws. Kevarrius Hayes's put-back to finish a three-chance possession in the final minute all but sealed the Bursaspor victory.

Bursaspor’s fourth-quarter turnaround

Frutti Extra Bursaspor dominated the fourth quarter at both ends to take control of the game. It started with defense. Over the game's final 10 minutes, Umana Reyer Venice shot 1 for 10 from the field and committed 7 turnovers. Eight of those missed Reyer shots were threes as the hosts settled for outside shots inside of trying to get through the aggressive Bursaspor defense. Once the defense set the tone, it was much easier for Derek Needham and co. to take over and they did to claim a valuable toad win.

Turnovers eclipse Reyer’s stellar inside shooting

Umana Reyer Venice recorded the second-most accurate two-point shooting night in club history, but it wasn’t enough on this night. The hosts made 20 of 30 twos (66.7%), which they only ever bettered with a 23 of 33 effort (69.7%) against JL Bourg en Bresse in December of last season. However, the team struggled from the perimeter and made just 4 of 24 three-pointers (16.7%). More troubling than the outside shooting were the 21 turnovers committed. Those led to 28 points for Frutti Extra Bursaspor and were decisive in the game's outcome.