Beşiktaş Cola Turka Men’s Basketball squeezed out a 102-98 OT victory over the visiting Telekom Bonn of Germany last night to record its first win in European Cup Group D.

Despite falling behind 4-0 early, the Black and White rallied behind consecutive three-pointers by Chatman, Cevher and Haluk to take a 9-7 edge three minutes into the opening quarter. As the game progressed however, the visitors began to dominate the boards and pulled ahead, 21-15, after Jordan stepped out and knocked down a number of jumpers with 3:10 left on the clock. The Eagles tried to disrupt the German team’s offensive flow with a zone defense but still trailed, 25-19, heading into the second frame.
Although, an extended 2-3 zone defense enabled Beşiktaş Cola Turka to tie the score at the start; the Telekom Bonn rode the scoring of Ohlbrecht, Ensminger and Jordon, who concluded the half with 12 points, in the second and went into the locker room up by 7, 46-39, at the break.
When the Black and White had trouble containing the hot-shooting duo of Ohlbrecht and Taylor, the deficit grew to 12 points, 51-39 in the first 90 seconds of the second half. But then, thanks to a tenacious defense, the Eagles restricted their opponents to 2 points in next 4 minutes and managed to close within 4 points at 53-49 midway through the quarter. The Germans were holding a 6-point, 69-63 lead, entering the fourth.
A series of easy layups by Ensminger pushed the margin to 13 points, 80-67, at the halfway point of the final stanza. However, Beşiktaş Cola Turka refused to surrender and came back to narrow the gap to 84-81 when Ömer hit a 27-foot three-pointer with less than 2:00 left in regulation. Beşiktaş’s Mire Chatman took center stage down the stretch, and after bringing the Black and White within 2 points with a 10-footer, converted 2 clutch free throws in the dying seconds to tie score at 88 and send the game into overtime.
Led by the hot-shooting Chatman, Beşiktaş Cola Turka seized control in overtime to claim a valuable 102-98 victory and pick up its first win in the European Cup.
Mire Chatman scored a game-high 35 points for the Black Eagles, followed by Muratcan Güler with 19 points and Haluk Yıldırm with 15 points, while Cevher pulled down a respectable 23 boards.