In the 21st round of the Turkish Super League, Galatasaray secured a win in a tough away game against Turk Telekom by 92:90, while Manisa defeated Besiktas by 78:70.
Both teams had identical records in the Turkish league prior to this game, with 9 wins and 11 losses in 20 games played.
Galatasaray arrived at this away game with 5 consecutive losses, and at the start of this game, it didn’t seem like anything significant would change. Turk Telekom had a fantastic opening to the game, scoring 30 points in the first quarter, and midway through that period, they had a 15-point lead (25:10). However, Galatasaray didn’t give up. They found a great rhythm in their offense, managed to string together several good defensive stops, and won the second quarter with a score of 30:19, which was enough for a halftime lead of 51:49.
In the third quarter, we didn’t see as many prolific scorers. Galatasaray controlled the score for most of this quarter, so they entered the last 10 minutes with a lead of 70:65. We witnessed a real back-and-forth in the final quarter. Galatasaray couldn’t break the game open, but on the other hand, Turk Telekom couldn’t establish any significant lead either, so in the end, the team led by coach Yakup Sekizkok secured a significant win.
The top scorer for the winning team was Klemen Prepelic with 23 points and 8 assists, while David McCormack had an outstanding performance with 21 points and 10 rebounds. Akwasi Yeboah also played well with 17 points. For Turk Telekom, the top scorer was Tyrone Wallace with 27 points, followed by Yigitcan Saybir with 21 points.
Galatasaray currently sits in sixth place with a record of 10 wins and 11 losses, while Turk Telekom is ninth with 9 wins and 12 losses so far.
In the next round, Galatasaray will host Darussafaka, while Turk Telekom will visit Samsunspor.
π― Klemen PrepeliΔ'in ilk yarΔ±yΔ± bitiren 3'lΓΌΔΓΌ! πͺ pic.twitter.com/B60zc5MuAB
— Galatasaray Basketbol (@GSBasketbol) March 2, 2024
On the other hand, Besiktas suffered a defeat on the road against Manisa by 78:70.
The first quarter was mostly in balance, but eventually, Manisa took a four-point lead into the break (19:15). Besiktas started to struggle in the second quarter, allowing their opponent to extend their lead to as much as 12 points at one point. However, Dusan Alimpijevic’s team managed to respond to the opponent’s surge towards the end of the first half, reducing the deficit to just nine points at halftime (40:31).
Besiktas significantly improved their game in the third quarter, even managing to take the lead at one point, but Manisa regained control towards the end, leading 60:56. The crucial period of the game occurred at the beginning of the fourth quarter when Manisa went on an 11:0 run. Besiktas found a better offensive rhythm towards the end, narrowing the gap to four points, but time was not on their side.
James Anderson was the top scorer for Manisa with 15 points, while Derek Needham stood out for Besiktas with 17 points.