Beşiktaş Cola Turka Men’s Basketball eked out a valuable 74-73 road win over Bursa, Oyak Renault in Week 18 of the Beko Turkish Basketball League.

After Oyak Renault opened the scoring with Evren Büker’s 14-foot jumper, Jimmy Baxter and Muratcan Güler hit back-to-back threes to give Beşiktaş Cola Turka a 9-2 lead three minutes into the quarter. The Black and White tried to stretch the margin on a couple of easy layups by Ray Wesson and Muratcan Güler; but failed to stop the hot-shooting Alex Gordon, who unleashed a barrage of three-pointers in a span of two minutes to trigger a 10-0 run that put the home team up, 15-13, at the halfway mark. Nevertheless, Haluk Yıldırım and Jimmy Baxter nailed consecutive jumpers in the closing minutes to help the Black and White take a 24-19 edge heading into second.
 At the onset of the second frame, the teams had trouble finding their offensive rhythm and went nearly three minutes without a basket until Haluk Yıldrım connected on a fadeaway jumper with 7:15 left to end the drought. Bursa City team briefly climbed back within striking distance on Evren Büker’s driving layups; but couldn’t find an answer to its defensive woes and had to call a timeout midway through the quarter after Cevher Özer and Ray Wesson teamed up to pour it on from allover the court. Despite talking things over, Oyak Renault was unable to get its act together after the break; as back-to-back buckets from Ray Wesson and Dennis Mims kept Beşiktaş Cola Turka safely in front.  The home side got a string of unanswered points from Alex Gordon and Evren Büker in the dying minutes but still trailed, 38-29, at the half. 
Soon after Ray Wesson knocked down an 8-footer in the painted area to start the second half, Mike Chatman found open Jimmy Baxter for a dunk and made it 45-31 for the Black and White with 8:00 remaining in the third quarter. Nonetheless, after sinking a pair of free-throws, Alex Gordon stepped up and drilled a 27-foot three-pointer from behind the arch and forced a much-needed Beşiktaş Cola Turka timeout. Although Ray Wesson’s put-back layup seemed to settle things down for the visitors, Alex Gordon and Eddy Fobbs immediately answered with a trey and dunk to cut the margin to 52-43 at the halfway point. While the Black and White began to struggle finding open shots, Alper Saruhan led Oyak Renault’s late spurt with consecutive three-pointers that would put the Bursa City side ahead, 53-52, with a minute left in the third stanza.  Mıre Chatman made a free-throw in the dying second and locked the game in a 53-53 tie heading into final quarter. 
Mire Chatman and Alex Gordon swapped baskets to start the fourth frame; then Beşiktaş Cola Turka went on to take a slim 58-55 edge on Haluk Yıldırım’s jump shot two minutes into the final quarter. After Ray Wesson responded Evren Büker’s running jumper with a hook shot, Jimmy Baxter buried a three-pointer from downtown to boost the Black and White’s lead to 6 points at 63-57. But Joseph Jones hit a clutch three; and Alex Gordon drove to hoop for a layup to bring the host team within 63-62 with 2:35 left in the game. Then a tip-in by Alex Gordon leveled the score at 67. The teams continued to exchange baskets down the stretch and were deadlocked in a 72-72 tie, entering the final minute.  With 6 seconds remaining on the clock, Oyak Renault went to the free-throw line;  Alper Saruhan converted only one of his two throws and  helped his team surge ahead, 73-72. However in a last-ditch attempt, Mire Chatman ended the hosts’ hopes by burying a last-second dagger from the left wing and lifted Beşiktaş Cola Turka to a narrow 74-73 road win.