By Eurohoops team / info@eurohoops.net
Galatasaray was only a few possessions away from getting eliminated in this year’s Basketball Champions League Play-Ins, as Saint-Quentin Basket-Ball made them play with fire.
However, they stayed alive and progressed to the Round of 16, where they managed to defy the odds by beating the reigning champions of Unicaja and eliminating Rytas Vilnius from contention.
Entering this season’s Quarter-Finals for the first time in the club’s history, Yakup Sekizkok’s team didn’t have home-court advantage, starting Game 1 of their best-of-three-game series hosted by ERA Nymburk, one of the surprises of the season. Tonight, they were the ones surprising, as they prevailed 106-80.
Galatasaray‘s backcourt was extremely helpful in managing to get the lead in the series. Will Cummings led the Turkish team with a season-high 33 points, followed by the debuting Rob Gray at 19 points.
The Czech champions had a nightmare performance, shooting only 7/27 from beyond the arc. Stephen Brown (13 points, 3 rebounds, and 5 assists) wasn’t enough to give his team the victory.
Previously this year, ERA Nymburk had already beaten Galatasaray twice in the Regular Season. In order to keep competing and force Game 3 at home, next week they need to grab one more win.
Post-game press conference:
PHOTO CREDIT: Basketball Champions League