Beşiktaş Cola Turka Men’s Basketball was taken down by the cross-town rival Galatasaray Cafe Crown, 84-74, in Game 1 of its playoff semifinal series.

The Black and White made a fine start and leaped out an early 5-0 lead on baskets by Baxter and Chatman after one minute. But Rashid Atkins and Hüseyin Beşok and Rashid Atkins converted back-to-back layups to give home side Galatasaray an 8-7 edge with 7:10 remaining on the clock. Despite Muratcan Güler’s free throw that tied the score briefly, consecutive buckets in the paint from Milocevic and Hosley established a 14-11 advantage for the host team at the halfway point. As the game’s intensity picked up, Beşiktaş Cola Turka tried to stay close with the shooting of Mire Chatman but had a hard time to contain Miloseviç and Hüseyin Beşok under the hoop. The yellow and red archrival held a 23-20 edge at the end of the first quarter.

Haluk Yıldırım swished a 3-pointer and Jimmy Baxter knifed through for a layup to open the second stanza and put the Black and White back on top, 25-24. Nevertheless, Galatasaray Cafe Crown managed to regain the lead on Quinton Hosley’s free throws and got a string of 3-pointers from Anthony Tolliver and Tufan Ersöz for a 2- point advantage, 32-30, at the 14:00 mark. But it wouldn’t take too long before Mehmet Yağmur put up a floating jumper to knot the score once again; then, Muratcan Güler’s ensuing 3-point shot pulled Beşiktaş Cola Turka ahead, 35-32, midway through the quarter. In the closing stages, thanks to Cevher and Wesson, who were both having an off day, Beşiktaş Cola Turka started missing its outside shots, and Galatasaray Cafe Crown capitalized on it; as Hosley and Tolliver teamed up to make it 42-39 for the home side at the half.

In the early minutes of the second half, the two archrivals struggled getting to the basket and were locked in a 42-42 tie after Mehmet Yağmur buried a 3-pointer from the top of the key nearly three minutes into the third stanza. From that point on, just like in the previous quarters, the game went back and forth for most of the quarter. Dejan Miloscevic and Wesson traded layups before Cevher Özer’s trey gave the Black and White a 3-point cushion, 47-44, with 6:05 to go. But Antonio Graves and Cüneyt Erden combined for 6 straight points to help the yellow and red team jump back into front, 50-49, with less than two minutes remaining. Although our boys in Black and White came back to tie the score at 52-52 in the dying seconds, Anthony Tolliver drove to the hoop for a layup at the buzzer to lift Galatasaray Cafe Crown to a 54-52 lead entering the fourth.

At the onset of the final quarter, a pair of Dejan Milosevic layups extended the host team’s advantage to 58-52. But the Black Eagles had no intention of letting their opponents pull away and began a stretch in which the Black and White trimmed the deficit to 58-56 with 4 unanswered points coming off layups by Jimmy Baxter and Wesson. Yet the home team still pushed the margin to five points, 66-61, with Hüseyin Beşok’s slam dunk at the 35:00 mark. From that moment on, things seemed to fall apart for our boys, as they watched Ouinton Hosley widen the gap to 73-66 with 2:00 left to play. Despite a much needed timeout, Beşiktaş Cola Turka was unable to get back into the game in the remaining minutes and succumbed to an 84-74 defeat.