In Coach Ergin Ataman’s debut, visiting Beşiktaş Cola Turka Men’s Basketball suffered an 85-83 overtime loss to Efes Pilsen.
The home team opened the game on an 8-0 run and grabbed a 12-6 advantage midway through the quarter. The Eagles recovered quickly as Iverson teamed up with Ignerski and started erasing the deficit with back-to-back jumpers. Then Cevher Özer drained a three-pointer from downtown to give Beşiktaş Cola Turka an 18-15 lead, which, thanks to a number of layups by Ogilvy, got stretched to 31-23 at the end of first.
The Eagles tightened the screws on their defense in the second frame to build a 15-point cushion, 46-31, with 3:05 left. But from that moment on, a series of unforced turnovers led to consecutive layups by Kerem Tunçeri, Nachbar and Rakoceviç as Efes pulled to within 48-39 at the half.
A 6-0 run by the host at the outset of the second half brought the deficit down to three points, 48-45. A 26-foot Cevher Özer three-pointer from the left wing made sure that the Efes did not come any closer than that. In the dying minutes of the third, Mire Chatman, Iverson and Oglivy combined efforts to take the lead back to nine, 64-55, with one quarter left to play.
The early part of the fourth quarter was not much different that previous ones with the Eagles holding a comfortable 73-62 lead at the halfway mark. Then, Beşiktaş Cola Turka began to falter offensively as the turnovers took over again. While the Eagles struggled to find their touch, a floating jumper by Kerem Gönlüm tied the game at 73 with 1:04 to go. With 34 seconds remaining on the clock, the Eagles had a chance to wrap it up, but Cevher Özer failed to convert his free throws and the game went into overtime.
The teams traded baskets in the early going of overtime until Cevher Özer’s 3-pointer gave Beşiktaş Cola Turka a four-point advantage, 83-79, going into the final two minutes.
Thorton answered back with a layup, and Nachbar hit two free throws to knot the score again, this time at 83 with 29 seconds to play. After Chatman’s easy layup rounded off the rim, Nachbar connected on his free throws as Efes Pilsen sneaked out an 85-83 win.
