Visiting Beşiktaş Cola Turka Basketball team took on Serbian Red Star in the first leg of ULEB Cup Round 3 and the ended up in an 80-80 tie. The second leg will be played in Istanbul on March 18 and the winner will get qualified for the next round.

Both teams exchanged baskets in the early going and remained close midway through the opening quarter. When the host team tightened its defense, the Black and Whites turned to outside shooting and pulled ahead 15-13 with 2.5 minutes remaining on the clock. But they committed too many turnovers in the dying minutes and trailed 20-17 at the end of the first quarter.
Both teams went into a dry spell at the start of the second quarter and managed only 5 points in the first 3.5 minutes. Despite putting up a solid defense, our Black and Whites couldn’t find their offensive rhythm and were unable to knock down open shots. Nevertheless, they still remained in striking distance and a driving Mehmet Yağmur’s jumper with 2:51 to play put them in front 30-29. Then Shumpert stepped up and hit his shots in the waining seconds to give Beşiktaş Cola Turka a slim 36-34 halftime lead going into the locker room at the break.    
Red Star made a pair of free throws to open the second half and leveled the score at 36-36. Then our Black and Whites began to falter once again and let the Red Star gain control of the game. But Shumpert and Drobnjak kept Beşiktaş Cola Turka in the game and prevented the home team from pulling away. After our key players Kaya Peker and Apodaca both sustained unfortunate injuries at the halfway mark, Dalmau received his 4th faul and Black and Whites were in serious in trouble. But against all odds, they stuck to their game plan and fought back valiantly to tie the game at 55-55 with 2 minutes remaining in the third quarter. Nevertheless, Red Star managed to surge ahead 59-58 on a last-second jumper entering the final period of play.     
After Markovic drilled a three to open the fourth quarter, the Serbians tried to stretch their lead to double-digits, but Beşiktaş Cola Turka kept them from achieving their goal with clutch baskets by Drobjnak and Shumpert. Moreover, the Apodaca and Kaya Peker came off the bench in this quarter to give the Black and Whites that much needed extra scoring punch. However, thanks to a series of unforced turnover, the Red Star extended the margin to 75-68, its biggest lead in the game, with only 5 minutes to play. Nonetheless, our Black and Whites refused to go away and clawed back to within 1 point, 77-76, entering into the final 2.5 minutes. From then on, the game went back and forth, and despite taking a brief 79-78 lead on Shumbert’s clutch 3-pointer, Beşiktaş Cola Turka finished in an 80-80 tie.        
The two teams will face each other again on March 18 at BJK Akatlar Cola Turka Arena and the winner will advance to the next round.
In addition to President Yıldırım Demirören, Mr. Şeref Yalçın, the Board Member in Charge of Basketball Branch and Mr. Mario Berk, the Board Member in Charge of Table Tennis, Bridge Branch and Foreing Affairs also attented the game that took place in Belgrade in front of a large home crowd.