By Eurohoops team / info@eurohoops.net
In the Istanbul derby of the Turkish championship, Besiktas defeated Fenerbahce as a guest with a score of 85-72 in the match of the 29th round.
Jonah Mathews led Dusan Alimpijevic’s team to victory with 16 points, Devon Dotson added 14, Brynton Lemar 11, and Ante Zizic ten.
On the other side, Nicolo Melli with 12 and Onuralp Bitim with 11 points were the only players in double figures.
The match started with an incredible series by Besiktas, who already had a lead of 24-1 in the eighth minute, so it seemed that even the point difference in the head-to-head matches between the two teams was at risk, given that Fenerbahce won the first match with a +14 (101-87).
The guests managed to go into halftime with a 21-point lead (49-28), and in the end, they recorded a victory, but Fenerbahce managed to reduce the deficit and lose the match by only 13 points, which could be crucial towards the end of the championship. Anthony Brown had an open three-pointer for first place ahead of Playoffs in the last second, but he missed it.
Besiktas is currently at the top of the table and finished the league part with a score of 25-5, while Fenerbahçe has 24 wins and five losses, but a better head-to-head score. This means that if Fenerbahce defeats the third-placed Bahcesehir away on Saturday, they will start the Playoffs in first place and have home-court advantage in a potential final.