Beşiktaş Cola Turka Men’s Basketball qualified for the final of the Schweppes European Trophy Tournament with an 84-80 victory over Base Oostende.

Şeref Yalçın, Beşiktaş Board Member in Charge of the Basketball Branch was also in the stands watching the game that took place in Namur City of Belgium.
The Black and White fielded a starting lineup consisting of Mire Chatman, Brad Newley, Haluk Yıdırım, Cevher Özer and Lonny Baxter. The hosts Base Oostende came out on a roll and jumped to an 8-0 lead after two minutes. The Eagles finally made their first bucket of the game at 3:05 mark, but Belgians took it right back to them with a three-pointer from downtown and forced an early Burak Bıyıktay timeout. The break apparently helped as Beşiktaş pulled within 18-11 midway through the quarter with Cevher pouring in 10 points. The Eagles continued to chip away at the deficit in the closing minutes and trailed only by 4 points, 24-20, going into second stanza.
The Black and White had trouble getting organized in the second and started committing too many costly turnovers that led to an 8-point, 35-27, Oodense advantage at the halfway mark. Then, they got out-rebounded and were sluggish on both ends of the court, allowing the Belgians to build a 10-point, 42-32, cushion before heading into the locker room at the half.
Beşiktaş Cola Turka roared back to life in the third and crawled within 1 at 44-43 on back-to-back baskets by Kevin Fletcher and Cevher just after two minutes. Despite hot shooting Kevin Fletcher’s fourth foul, Mire Chatman managed to level the score at 48 with a three-point shot from the deep left corner with less than 7:00 left on the clock. Then, Haluk Yıldırım hit seven straight points within a span of two minutes to give the Black and White a 55-48 edge, their biggest in the game. But the home side battled back and tied the game at 62 after three quarters of play. Meanwhile, Eagles’ Kerem Özkan picked up his 5th foul and headed to the bench.
After making the technical fouls called on Haluk, Oodense went back in front 69-66 with 7:00 to play in the final frame. However, the Black Eagles refused to let the game slip away and charged back to even the score once again before going on to reclaim the lead at 76-73 on Haluk’s three-pointer—which forced an Base Oodense timeout. With 1:40 to go, Haluk Yıldırım knocked down another three to make it 79-73 for Beşiktaş Cola Turka. But the home team took advantage of rebounder Kevin Fletcher’s absence, who hit the showers after receiving his 5th foul, and inched within one point at 79-78 with only 15 seconds remaining. Nonetheless, Brad Newley and Mire Chatman converted three of their four free-throws and stretched the margin to 82-78 in the closing stages. Base Oostende responded with a quick layup; but Chatman’s clutch free-throws in the dying seconds would lift the Black and White to a well-deserved 84-80 victory and send it to the Schweppes Trophy final.
While Cevher led all Eagles with 23 points, Haluk Yıldırım added 18 for Beşiktaş Cola Turka. Mire Chatman (16), Kevin Fletcher (10), Brad Newley (8), Lonny Baxter (4), Ömer (3) and Kerem (2) also contributed to the scoring of the victors.
The Eagles will take on Gravelines of France in the final at Turkish Time 19:00 today (September 6).
Following the game, Beşiktaş Head Coach Burak Bıyıktay weighed in on Beşiktaş Cola Turka’s performance: “This tournament has turned out to be an important preseason test for us. It has given us chance to focus on areas where we need to improve most. So far, we managed beat two home teams and gained valuable international experience along the way. It is nice to win games abroad. Now, we are set to defeat French Gravelines and finish first in the tournament.”