After losing a double-digit lead, a tough defeat in Turkey.
2025.01.14
League
Club
After losing a double-digit lead, a tough defeat in Turkey.

Besiktas Fibabanka Istanbul picked up a massively important victory in the fight for the playoffs as it defeated Wolves Twinsbet Vilnius 79-77 at home after a nightmare start to the second half. Besiktas survived going scoreless for more than 7 minutes in the third quarter and falling behind by 11 points to win down the stretch and snap a three-game losing streak for an 8-7 record. 

Jonah Mathews poured in 27 points for the hosts, Berk Ugurlu added 20 points and Kelan Martin and Dustin Sleva both chipped in 10 points. Wolves have now dropped five of the last seven games for a 7-8 record. The one good thing for the Lithuanian side is it still owns the tiebreaker over Besiktas thanks to its 93-78 home win in Round 6. Anthony Cowan scored 22 points in the loss. 

Besiktas went up 5-2 to start the game but Regimantas Miniotas scored Wolves’ first 7 points and it was 5-9. Ugurlu knocked down two triples at the other end in a 14-4 run to put Besiktas up 19-13. The scoring in the final 4 minutes was almost exclusively from the free-throw line, with Wolves Twinsbet trailing 23-22 after 10 minutes. 

Wolves Twinsbet held Besiktas scoreless for the first 3 minutes of the second quarter and took a 23-26 lead. Mathews responded with five straight points to put Besiktas back up 28-26, starting a stretch of four lead changes. Miniotas added two free throws and a three-point play as Wolves Twinsbet led multiple times by three points. The score was deadlocked 40-40 at the break. 

Jeffery Taylor opened the second half with a score for the guests, but it was the only points for either team for nearly the first 5 minutes of the third quarter. Cowan had five points in the 0-11 run to give Wolves the lead 40-51. Besiktas finally scored at the 2:26 minute mark after 10 missed shots and 2 turnovers. Yigit Arlan’s triple finally got Besiktas on the board and Ugurlu added a three-point play to get within 50-56. And the guests were leading 52-59 after 30 minutes. 

The Besiktas push continued in the final frame, with Conor Morgan hitting a triple to make it 57-61. Martin converted a three-point play and Ugurlu added another three-pointer to get the hosts within 63-66 with 5 minutes to play. An unsportsmanlike foul on Cowan resulted in two Sleva free throws and a Mathews jumper to put Besiktas back in front 67-66. Mathews just kept going with a jumper and three-point play and the home side led 73-67 with 97 seconds to go. And that was enough for the win. Sleva finished the game off for good with two free throws with 3.6 seconds to go. 

The most valuable player for the visiting team was A. Cowan, who drew an impressive 11 fouls from the opponents. He tallied 22 points and 7 assists.

Wolves Twinsbet: Anthony Cowan 22, Regimantas Miniotas 14, Arnoldas Kulboka 11, Marek Blaževič 10 (10 rebounds), Tre'Shawn Thurman 7 (8 rebounds), Andrew Andrews 4, Matas Jogėla 3, Jeffery Taylor, Garrison Brooks, and Kristupas Žemaitis 2 each. Vaidas Kariniauskas and Daniel Baslyk did not play (coach's decision). 

For Besiktas, Jonah Matthews scored 27, Berk Ugurlu 20, Dustin Sleva and Kelan Martin added 10 points each. 

Wolves Twinsbet's next EuroCup game will be on January 22 at home against Dreamland Gran Canaria.

(Photo by Rokas Lukoševičius)