Visiting Beşiktaş Cola Turka Men’s Basketball falls 74-57 to Fenerbahçe Ülker on Matchday 5 of the Beko Basketball League.

The home team Fenerbahçe started strong and jumped out to a 4-0 lead on baskets by Emir Preldzic and Marquis Green. But Beşiktaş Cola Turka got two quick layups from Mehmet Yağmur and Adem Ören and tied the score at 4-4. Nonetheless, Gasper Vidmar would soon come up with his own layup to break the deadlock and fire his club back on top. Playing an effective zone defense, Fenerbahçe opened an 8-4 lead midway through the quarter. Then, Gasper Vidmar and Enes Kanter teamed up to score a string of unanswered pints to stretch the hosts’ advantage even further. The Black and White tried to remain within striking distance with Cevher Özden’s jump shots, but had trouble stopping Fenerbahce from penetrating inside. On the other hand, the yellow and dark blue team sealed its defense and prevented Beşiktaş Cola Turka from getting a clean shot off. While the Black and White struggled at both ends of the court, Devin Smith followed Emir Preldzic’s three with a layup to close out quarter and put the cross-town rivals ahead, 21-12.
After Oğuz Savaş hit a short jumper to open the second frame, Devin Smith drilled a three-point shot from downtown and extended the lead to 14 points at 26-12 with 9:00 left in the half. The Black and White finally got on the scoreboard with a trey by Ömer Ünver; however, Devin Smith and Oğuz Savaş would continue to make their shots and keep their team in front. Hoping to narrow the gap, Beşiktaş Cola Turka started playing man-to-man defense, but could not prevent Enes Kanter from dominating the offensive board. Then Hakan Demirel assisted on Oğuz Savaş’s three-pointer, and Devin Smith followed it with a dunk to widen the margin to 36-19 at the halfway mark. The Black and White squeezed 4 points out of Adem Ören’s short jumper and Haluk Yıldırım’s steal, only to see Emir Preldzic and Gasper Vidmar connect on consecutive layups to give Fenerbahçe Ülker a comfortable 15-point, 44-29, advantage at the half.
Mehmet Yağmur banged home a wide-open jumper for Beşiktaş Cola Turka to start the third quarter and close the gap to 44-31, but, Gasper Vidmar converted a 3-point play and kept Fenerbahçe’s lead intact. Then Cevher Özer capped a short- lived rally with a pair of three-pointers and cut the deficit to 12 points at 49-37. Despite Marquis Green’s bucket that made it 59-37 for Fenerbahçe, the home team suddenly begun to struggle offensively and started having shooting woes, especially from outside. Led by the trio of Mire Chatman, Adem Ören and Cevher Özden, the Black and White took advantage of this drought and managed to claw its way back to within 7 points at 51-44 with 3 minutes remaining in the stanza. While Fenerbahçe continued to fire blanks, Beşiktaş Cola Turka started cleaning up the offensive glass; and then chipped away at the lead with Adem Ören’s outside shots.  A last minute dunk by Cevher Özer pulled the Black and White within 53-51 and forced Fenerbahçe Ülker to take a timeout. Following the timeout, the yellow and dark blue team’s attack did not materialize into anything and  Beşiktaş Cola Turka had a chance to tie the game, but Devin Smith blocked Mehmet Yağmur’s final attempt at the buzzer; as Fenerbahçe Ülker held onto a slim two-point lead after three quarters of play.
After Devin Smith buried a jumper from high-post to open the final quarter and stretch Fenerbahçe’s lead to 4 points, Marcus Faison connected on a three point shot –which was assisted by Mehmet Yağmur and made it a one-point game. The home team answered right back with Marquis Green’s 5 unanswered points and the things suddenly started to look grim for the Black and White. Beşiktaş Cola Turka had to take a timeout to talk things over, but was unable to respond Fenerbahçe’s rally; as Devin Smith knocked down a pair of threes behind the arch to widen the gap to 12 points at 66-54. Beating Beşiktaş’s zone defense with Gasper Vidmar’s penetration, Fenerbahçe Ülker extended the margin to 70-56 with 3:00 left and never looked back.  The Black and White tried everything to erase the deficit but could not overcome Fenerbahçe’s solid defense down the stretch. The home team built a 72 -57 cushion entering the final minute en route to a 74-57 win.