Our Beşiktaş Cola Turka Men’s Basketball Team hosted Pınar Karşıyaka at BJK Cola Turka Arena in the second week of the Beko Basketball League. The visitors from Izmir city managed to walk away with a 77-73 victory after a closely fought game.

Stepping on the court with a starting line up consisted of Kaya Peker, Nicevic, Dalmau, Shumpert and Sinan Güler, Black & Whites jumped out to an early lead thanks to Shumpert and Nicevic’s well-timed baskets. However back to back turnovers created by the home team kept the game within the reach for the Agean representatives. Nonetheless, Sinan Güler’s impressive performance starting from 5 minute mark enabled Beşiktaş Cola Turka to take a 18-16 lead at the end of the first quarter.
A combination of aggressive defense and high-percentage 3-point shots put Black & Whites in front, 30-18, within a 3.5 minute span midway through the second quarter. But Pınar Karşıyaka took advantage of Beşiktaş Cola Turka’s defensive lapses and succeeded in tying the score at 36-36. Despite a promising start to second quarter, Black & Whites had to settle for a slim 40-38 lead going into their locker room at half time intermission.             
At the start of the second half, a long range 3-pointer by Gary put the visiting green and red team ahead, while Beşiktaş Cola Turka struggled to get on the score board. Unable to muster any points from the painted area, Black & Whites had to rely on its outside shots taken behind the arch. Capitalizing on Beşiktaş’s turnovers and missed shots, Pınar Karşıyaka took a 50-49 edge with 4 minutes left in the quarter. The visitors also dominated the boards on both ends of the court and extended their advantage to 56-52 entering the final minute. However with 40 seconds left in quarter, Beşiktaş Cola Turka Men’s Basketball Team finally shook off its long lasting sluggish play and managed to recapture the lead with 5 unanswered points which pushed it 57-56 ahead at the end of the third quarter.
Supported by an enthusiastic home crowd, our Black & Whites built their advantage to 7 points, but Karşıyaka regrouped and launched a successful counter-offensive that cut the deficit to a mere 2 points (67-65) over the final 5 minutes of the fourth quarter. The game featured an exciting and dramatic finish down the stretch as visitors equalized the score once again at 71-71 with only 3 minutes left to play. Powered by the addition of Cevher, Apodaca and Erkan , Beşiktaş Cola Turka made a last attempt to steal the game, but failed to register any points from inside and out to regain the lead. The superior rebounding performance of the visiting team on both ends not only prevented the home side from scoring but also provided a 4-point cushion entering the final minute of the game. Pınar Karşıyaka managed to hold on to this advantage and recorded a narrow 77-73 victory at the