Besiktas edges Zaragoza and advances

In a game that went down to the wire, Besiktas Integral Forex got a thrilling 77-79 victory over CAI Zaragoza to advance to the eighthfinals from second place in Group P. Besiktas will next face Nizhny Novgorod, winner of Group L. Muractan Guler’s dunk with 5 seconds left gave the win to Besiktas after Jonathan Tabu tied it with a layup with 6 second remaining on the game clock. Chris Lofton tallied 25 points on 4-of-8 shooting from long distance for the winners, Tomislav Ruzic and Doron Perkins netted 13 apiece, while Guler and Colton Iverson chipped in 10 apiece in victory. Viktor Sanikidze collected 25 points and 8 rebounds for Zaragoza, Pedro Llompart nailed 12 and Giorgi Shermadini added 10.

Guler jumper gave a 3-9 advantage to the visitors, then Shermadini fueled the hosts in the paint, while a dunk by Iverson after grabbing an offensive board made it 7-17. Joseph Jones hit a jumper before Perkins’s free throws and layup made it 9-21 at the end of the first quarter. Jon Stefansson kept Zaragoza in the picture from long distance, while Tomislav Ruzic did the same from mid range for the visitors to go ahead 20-27. Michael Roll highlighted a 13-4 run for the home team to take the lead, 33-29. Sanikidze went all the way to the rim and drilled free throws. Llompart scored and Lofton with a deep three fixed the score at 41-36 at halftime for Zaragoza.

The lead changed hands six times in the third quarter, with Damjan Rudez and Shermadini fueling the hosts to 51-48. Iverson gave again the lead to Besiktas, and the teams switched four times, the last when Perkins layup fixed it at 55-56 after 30 minutes. The balance remained also in the last quarter when both sides tried to escape, but they took slim margins, and arrived tied at 69-69 on a three-pointer bagged by Lofton with 2:45 minutes left in the game. Lofton posted another shot from long distance to go up 69-72. Sanikidze from the foul line put the hosts in front 73-72, before Ruzic’s put back and Lofton’s free throws made it 73-76. Tabu tied at 77-77 with 6 seconds remaining, but Guler’s magic dunk gave Besiktas victory and qualification.