After Tofaş’s İlkan made a layup to start the game, Chatman and Fletcher hit consecutive jumpers for Beşiktaş Cola Turka to put their team in the driving seat. Despite a string of fast-break points by Bowman, the Black Eagles received a number of late buckets from the red-hot trio of Engin, Cevher and Newley to go up, 33-24, by the end of the first. But the early going of the second quarter saw the visitors tighten up on defense and keep their hosts from getting a clean look at the basket. While the Black and White struggled to get a good shot off, Denison teamed up with Butler and Can to launch a barrage of 3-pointers that would pull Tofaş ahead, 38-37, at the halfway point. From then on, the lead went back and forth, with the blue and white side from Bursa City clinging to a slim 48-47 advantage at halftime.
The two teams opened the second half trading baskets before Beşiktaş Cola Turka shifted into high gear and streaked to a 6-point lead behind back-to-back layups by Fletcher and Chatman with 6:30 remaining in the quarter. But Tofaş rode the scoring of Bowman and Denison to narrow the gap and stay close. Nonetheless, Chatman’s buzzer-beater 3-pointer from downtown gave the Eagles a 74-70 edge, heading into the final quarter.
At the outset of the fourth, Chatman, Likholitov and Fletcher combined for an 8-0 run to push Beşiktaş Cola Turka’s lead to 12 points, 82-70, just two minutes into the stanza. From there on, the game turned into a catch-me-if-you-can show, but the Black and White refused to get caught and coasted to a comfortable 98-84 home-court victory.
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