May 24, 2012
Qualifying, Round A, second-leg report: Galatasaray Cafe Crown 94-63 Siauliai
After reaching the semifinals of Europe's second-best competition a year ago, Galatasaray Cafe Crown will keep trying to move up in the new Eurocup after surviving the first qualifying round in style, by thrashing guests Siauliai of Lithuania 94-63 in Istanbul's Ayhan Sahenk Arena on Tuesday. The two teams had tied in their series opener, but Galatasaray left no doubt about the outcome by leading early and often in the rematch, never letting Siauliai up for air after the first quarter. The winners had five double-figure scorers led by Milan Gurovic, with 20 points. Huseyin Besok added 16, Andrija Zizic and Antonio Graves 10, while Dejan Milosevic doubled up with 12 points and 14 rebounds. The Galatasaray defense was just as impressive, allowing Siauliai only two double-figure scorers, Gintaras Kadziulis with 13 points and Andrius Slezas with 12. Siauliai will play the Eurocup Challenge now, while Galatasaray gears up for a second qualifying round, two games against Buducnost on November 4 and 11.

It was a balanced first quarter in Ayhan Sahenk Arena as the home side used went mostly inside by Zizic and established its intentions in the paint. Cuneyt Erden and Gurovic soon joined Zizic by scoring from outside to keep Galatasaray ahead. Veteran forward Virginijus Praskevicius to Siauliai within 6-9 one a layup, but Gurovic, Erden and Zizic responded with a 7-0 run and Graves soon gave Galatasaray its best lead of the quarter 18-13. Vitalijus Stanevicius answered for Siauliai with a triple but Besok kept Galatasaray up 22-18 after 10 minutes. Galatasaray made a thunderous start to the second quarter, blasting off on a 16-5 run that lasted more than 5 minutes and changed the game. Erdem Turetken, Erden and Gurovic's 2 three pointers apiece plus layups by Gurovic and Milojevic boosted the difference to 38-23. Galatasaray also outrebounded Siauliai 23-10 to find repeated fastbreaks that proved good for a 51-31 halftime edge.

The break didn't change anything for Galatasaray against a demoralised Siauliai. Besok and Milojevic's consecutive baskets suddenly brought the game to the 30-point barrier and midway through the third quarter, it was crossed as a Graves three-pointer made the score 68-38. Soon, Galatasaray saw the lead hit 36 points, 75-39, on a Milojevic layup and the home team went into the last period 77-47 ahead. Siauliai tried in the last quarter to reduce the difference, but despite the efforts of Kadziulis and Slezas, there the margin stayed as Galatasaray started thinking ahead to the next round.

QUOTES

Galatasaray Cafe Crown head coach Murat Ozyer:

"Psychologically it was a very important game for us that the first game ended with a tie. For that reason, we planned to start the game aggressive in defense. We succeeded for most of the game except the first five minutes. We had a fluid game with solid defense and also had a good percentage inside and outside. We had a couple of players shining in the game but the team effort was much effective. The most important thing is to not to give up on the game for the whole 40 minutes. And of course we are happy to move into the second qualifying phase."

Galatasaray Cafe Crown guard Antonio Graves:

"It was a great game. I think we used our motivation from the first game. We understood what it took to beat them. We played a lot better in the first game, in the second half. So our focus was to play, to start the game, the same as we did in the second half of the first game. I think that's what we did. Coach did a great job. I give a lot credit to my coach and my teammates. We just played together, we had the momentum. They couldn't stop us."

BC Siauliai head coach Robertas Giedraitis:

"Unfortunately we had a terrible game and at the same time, Galatasaray Cafe Crown played excellent tonight. That's what made the difference on the scoreboard. We were outrebounded and made lots of turnovers and lost the game in a terrible way."

BC Siauliai forward Virginijus Praskevicius:

"Galatasaray Cafe Crown was much better than us and they deserved the victory. We were very weak in defense and they turned this to an advantage for them well enough. They had many fastbreaks because of the advantage of rebounds and those things were too much to handle for us."
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
Eurocupbasketball.com
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