In its second Rixos Cup game, Beşiktaş Cola Turka Men’s Basketball fell 77-73 to Enbw Ludwigsburg of Germany but, thanks to a better scoring record, still qualified for the tournament’s final.

Though both teams struggled to score early on, the Black and White led 7-6 midway through the opening frame.  As the quarter progressed, Ludwigsburg began to take advantage of Egales’ turnovers and gained control of the game with back-to-back buckets by Michael Haynes and Dominic Jones. The visitors were up 20-16 going into second stanza.
The German side maintained control in the second; as Jones and Haynes continued to knock down consecutive 3-pointers, which would stretch the margin to 10 points at 26-16 only after two minutes. The Eagles eventually got back into the game on Kevin Fletcher’s layups and pulled within 33-30 at the halfway point. However, Haynes refused to let Ludwigsburg get caught and sparked a late rally with a string of unanswered 3- pointers to build a 46-34 cushion for his team at the intermission.
The Black and White roared back to life on Mire Chatman’s jumpers in the third and cut the margin to seven at 46-39 with less than 9:00 remaining. But as the game wore on, the Eagles’ defensive woes caused them to fall behind once again. The visitors went on to reestablish their 10-point advantage at 53-43, entering the final four minutes. Nevertheless, a late Beşiktaş run triggered by Haluk Yıldım and Adem Ören brought the Black and White within 5 points, 59-54 after three quarters of play.
The final quarter was much of the same with Ludwigsburg unleashing a barrage of 3-pointers every time the Black and White got close. In the early going of fourth, the Germans were again sitting on top of a 10-point, 64-54, edge. With 4:30 remaining to play, Beşiktaş Cola Turka finally showed some signs of recovery and rallied to close the gap to six points at 67-61. Then, the Eagles went on to erase the deficit with Cevher Özden’s free throws and took a 68-67 lead on a 10-foot jumper by Kevin Fletcher. However, the Black and White’s superiority was not to last too long, as Ludwigsburg came back to pull ahead 72-68 with shots behind the three-point line, heading into the final minutes. Beşiktaş Cola Turka had some last ditch attempts in the dying minutes but could not come up with the baskets it needed to stay alive, as Enbw Ludwigsburg ended up winning the hard-fought game 77-73.
Despite this loss, the Black and White advanced to the final of the Rixos Cup on better scoring record.