Beşiktaş Cola Turka Men’s Basketball rolls to 87-73 victory over visiting Pınar Karşıyaka in TBL Week 14. 

After Vernon Williams and Jimmy Baxter exchanged baskets to start the game, Pınar Karşıyaka raced out to an early lead on a string of jumpers by Valentin Pastal and Michael Benton. But the hot- shooting duo of Cevher Özer and Muratcan Güler hit back-to-back buckets and kept the Black and White within striking distance. Nevertheless, the visitors were up 9-8 midway through the quarter.  Then, Edward Brown stepped up and scored 5 unanswered points to extend the lead to 14-8 with 3.00 left. Beşiktaş Cola Turka tried to narrow the gap but could not find a way to stop Edward Borton’s outside shots and trailed 17-10 entering the final two minutes. In the closing stages, though, the Black and White displayed great hustle and tenacious defense to prevent its opponent from getting any easy bucket. Under a minute remaining in the opening stanza, Jimmy Baxter hit a jumper; and Cevher Özer followed it with a three-pointer to pull the Black and White to within 2 points at 17-15 heading into second quarter.
Edward Brown nailed a three-pointer to open the second stanza; then, Erhan Yetim, Vernon Williams and Michael Benton all scored for the visiting red and green team during an 11-0 run to widen the gap to 28-15 with just over 4: 00 left on the clock. Going without a basket for nearly 6 minutes, Beşiktaş Cola Turka got its first points from Jimmy Baxter’s free-throws. But the Black and White was unfazed and suddenly roared back to life; as Cevher Özer teamed with Adem Ören, Mike Chatman and Muratcan Güler to put together a similar 11-0 run and brought the deficit back down to two points, 28-26, with 1:45 to go in the quarter. With 40 seconds left, Jimmy Baxter drilled a 26-foot three-pointer from the left corner in response to Edward Brown’s free-throws and cut the deficit to 30-29. Pınar Karşıyaka answered right back with Michael Benton’s layup; but Jimmy Baxter would  knock down a three-pointer from downtown once again to end the first half in a 32-32 tie.



At the start of the second half, the red-hot Jimmy Baxter hit another trey and put Beşiktaş Cola Turka ahead, 35-32. Hakan Köseoğlu responded with a turnaround jumper for the visitors; as the teams tried to match each other point for point. The Black and White took a 38-36 lead two minutes into the third frame. Soon after, Muratcan Güler would step up and bury a 25-foot three-pointer from the top of the key and increase the Black and White’s lead to five points, 41-36. The Izmir City squad regrouped quickly and got back right in it with Edward Norton’s 4 consecutive points that made it a one-point game at 41-40. Then Michael Benton fired the visitors back on top with jumper; but, thanks to Jimmy Baxter’s hot hand, Beşiktaş Cola Turka was holding onto a slim 46-45 edge at the halfway mark. From that point on, the Black and White sealed its defense and began to gain the upper hand and pad its advantage with back-to-back baskets. Cevher Özer, Mire Chatman and Jimmy Baxter combined for 9 points to lift the Beşiktaş Cola Turka’s lead to 55-47 at the 3:00 mark. Muratcan Güler and Haluk Yıldırım continued to pour it in during the remaining minutes and helped the Black and White build an 18 point, 67-49, cushion heading into the final quarter.

After Beşiktaş Cola Turka opened the fourth with Mire Chatman’s free-throws, Pınar Karşıyaka made an attempt to get back into the game but its poor defense would prevent them from erasing the deficit. The home team stretched the margin to 74-55 on Jimmy Baxter’s three-point shot with 7:00 left in regulation time; and then went on to open a 23-point, 80-57, gap midway through the final stanza. Beşiktaş Cola Turka Men’s Basketball never looked back rest of the way en route to a comfortable 87-73 victory.