Visiting Beşiktaş Cola Turka Men’s Basketball fell 78-69 in Week 20’s game against mighty Efes Pilsen at Darüşşafaka Ayhan Şahenk Sports Hall on Sunday.

The Eagles got off to a sizzling start and stormed to an early lead with back-to-back baskets by Brad Newley and Lonny Baxter only to see Bostian Nachbar answer the call for the home team and make consecutive layups to tie it up at 9 all midway through the quarter. Despite a pair of Cevher Özer free throws that put the Black and White briefly on top, 11-9,  the remainder of the first saw Efes Pilsen pull away from Beşiktaş Cola Turka, 24-16, on a string jumpers by Smith and Ender Arslan,  heading into the second stanza. 

Haluk Yıldırım opened the second quarter with a three-pointer for Beşiktaş but, the Black and White had a real tough time stopping the sure-handed Bootsy Thorton. Nevertheless, the Eagles regrouped and rallied back behind the scoring of Cevher Özer and Brad Newley to close to within one point at 29-28 with 6:10 left in the half. From the on, the teams swapped baskets rest of the way, as the lead went back and forth. Yet, Beşiktaş Cola Turka nursed a 3-point edge, 41-38, at the intermission. 
At the start of the second half, a series of layups from Engin Atsür and red-hot Cevher Özer helped the Black and White stretch the margin, but Nachbar’s stellar performance kept Efes within striking distance of the visitors. The Black Eagles were clinging to a 2-point, 49-47, advantage at the halfway point. However, a late rally sparked by Muratcan Güler and Cevher Özer would push Beşiktaş Cola Turka’s lead to 59-54 after three.
Things looked much better for Efes Pilsen in the fourth as Kerem Tunçeri and Charles Smith each hit a 3-point shot to give the blue and white a 60-59 edge. The Black and White used Baxter’s dominance under the hoop to stay close but was unable to respond to a number of outside shots by Kaya Peker and Charles Smith; as the gap grew to 66-62 at the half way mark. Then, the teams began to commit turnovers and went scoreless until Nachbar converted a layup to make it 70-65 for Efes with just over 2:00 to play. In the dying seconds, Beşiktaş resorted to tactical free to stay alive, but the home team nailed all its free throws down the stretch to walk away with a hard-fought 78-69 victory.