Golubovic dominates as Aykon TED Ankara reaches quarters

Aykon TED Ankara overcame a 17-point aggregate deficit in the second quarter to score a 72-60 victory over Khimik Yuzhne and a 143-135 aggregate win, which sent the club from the Turkish capital to the Eurocup Quarterfinals. Vladimir Golubovic was a dominant force once again with 23 points and 14 rebounds to pace the winners. The big man drew 12 fouls as Khimik had few other ways to stop him. Clay Tucker added 17 points and 7 assists as the home side racked up 23 total assists. Romeo Travis led Khimik with 14 points, Jamal Shuler scored 12, Rolands Freimanis 10 and Paul Delaney dished 9 assists in defeat. Khimik, which won the opening leg on a neutral court, jumped out to a double-digit lead in the first quarter and extended it to 14-27 (85-102) early in the second, but a 10-0 run brought Ankara back in the game and after a 15-0 charge early in the third, the hosts never looked back.

Golubovic fittingly scored the game’s first 2 points from the line before Delaney’s steal led to a Travis slam for Khimik. The visitors surged ahead and led 4-13 (75-88) after Travis’s three-point play and a Shuler layup that resulted from Freimanis’s steal. Tucker and Golubovic kept Ankara close, but Shuler established a double-digit lead for the visitors. A Tucker triple closed the gap to 13-20 after 10 minutes (84-95 after 50 minutes). A Matt Gatens triple silenced the Turkish capital at 14-27 (85-102), with Ankara looking at a 17-point aggregate deficit. However Golubovic scored the next 5 points from the line before Tucker capped a 10-0 run with a three. Travis helped Khimik remain in front, but Aleksandar Rasic finished the half strong; his three made it 34-35 at the break (105-110).

Baskets by Travis and Shuler gave Khimik a cushion, but it would be short-lived. Kristaps Valters responded with a three before Golubovic tied the game. A Rasic layup tied the series at 114-114 and Berkey Candan and Valters each followed with threes to complete a 15-0 charge that made it 49-39 (120-114). Vitaliy Kovalenko scored a pair of baskets to trim the aggregate difference to 2, but Vanja Plisnic scored and then set up Muhammed Baygul to make it 57-45 at the end of the quarter (128-120). Tucker scored 5 of the first 7 points of the fourth quarter to take the aggregate difference to 15. Despite the best efforts of Oleksandr Riabchuk and Travis, Khimik was unable to threaten late and the hosts closed out a historic win.