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Galatasaray Cafe Crown won the first battle of the second Eurocup qualifying round, defeating guests KK Buducnost m:tel 85-83 at home in Istanbul on Tuesday. Buducnost is definitely in the war still, however, after playing a heady game to within two points on the road despite being in a traffic game when the game was supposed to start. The tipoff was delayed, and Buducnost made the most of the second chance. It needs to win by only three points in the rematch next Tuesday in Podgorica, Montenegro in order to reach to the Eurocup regular season while Galatasaray can lose by one and advance. A pair of players that Buducnost knows well, its own former player Dejan Milojevic and Milan Gurovic, led the winners with 24 and 23 points, respectively. Andrija Zizic fired up 14 more and Antonio Graves 10 for Galatasaray. Buducnost stayed close with 23 points from Vladimir Dasic, 18 from Nemanja Gordic and 13 plus 8 rebounds from Vladimir Micov. One of the teams may look back after the rematch and regret free throws not taking advantage of in the first game, where Galatasaray made just 16 of 30 (53.3%) tries at the foul line and Buducnost only 8 of 17.
Despite getting stuck in an Istanbul traffic jam that delayed the tipoff, Buducnost got off to a fast start, penetrating to the basket with ease until Marko Popovic blasted a triple that gave a 4-10 lead to the Montenegro side. With the support of its fans at Ayhan Sahenk Arena, Galatasaray responded with a 9-1 run behind points from Graves, Zizic, Milojevic and Gurovic to take its first lead at 13-11. Soon, a Zizic layup boosted the difference to 17-14, but Dasic started throwing in three-pointers that not only kept Buducnost in the game, but triggered a series of lead changes until Cuneyt Erden's free throw and a put-back by Milojevic ended the first quarter 24-22 for Galatasaray. The game stayed even early in the second quarter until Buducnost got 5 points in a row from Marko Simonovic on a three-pointer and a spectacular dunk to take a 32-35 lead after 15 minutes. Galatasaray strengthened its defense then, forcing turnovers that resulted in a string of fastbreaks. Marshall Strickland downed a layup and Erden ended another break with a huge triple that allowed Galatasaray to take charge again, 46-40 at halftime.
Buducnost started the second half as they started the first, with Nikola Otasevic, Ivan Maras and Gordic reeling off points until the visitors had retaken the lead, 48-50. It was then Galatasaray's turn to make a run, and this one was almost a game-breaker. Gurovic's two triples plus layups by Milojevic, Graves and finally Cemal Nalga amounted to a 12-3 break and put the score at 60-53 midway through the third quarter. Buducnost responded again, however, with 7 unanswered points that Nenad Misanovic finished at the foul line for a tie before Gurovic and Nalga lifted Galatasaray in front again, 66-62, after 30 minutes. Both defenses set the tone in the fourth quarter, but finally a Milojevic tip-in re-started the scorebard at 68-62. Buducnost was not taking no for an answer, however, and blasted off on a 2-10 riff behind the duo of Dasic and Gordic, who added a layup and dunk, respectively, as the visitors went up 73-76 with under 5 minutes left. Galatasaray's answer took the form of a 12-4 run in which a free throw by Graves took back the scoreboard and a pair by Milojevic made it 85-80 going into the final minute. Only the visitors scored after that, however, as Micov's layup cut the difference to a single basket before the return leg in Podgorica.
QUOTES
Galatasaray Cafe Crown head coach Murat Ozyer:
"We weren't able to get the rhythm that we planned to play. We missed easy shots and were very poor from the foul line. We also made easy turnovers. So our plans damaged because of the unexpected mistakes. We could play much better, but we saw our mistakes in this game. There will be a harder game expecting us in Podgorica for sure. We will try to play much better to move into the next stage. What we need to do is to not to repeat the same mistakes we did here in Istanbul."
Galatasaray Cafe Crown forward Dejan Milojevic:
"Obviously they are tougher than we expected. They are young, but have enough talent to cause trouble for us all during the game. But this is not the only reason that we made lots of mistakes. We were not tough enough in defense for most of the game. The 2-point win is not good for the two leg matches. But of course it’s better than to lose the game. We will try to do much better in Podgorica to open our way for the group games."
Buducnost head coach
Dejan Radonjic:
"We are very satisfied with the result. Galatasaray Cafe Crown is a great team, but especially on the defensive end, we've done good job. In order to stop their good players, we played good defense. Especially we grabbed defensive rebounds. But at the end, Galatasaray is still the favorites for the next game, because we are young and at the same time they are a very experienced team. To move into the group stages of Eurocup, we need to play at the same level, especially on defense, in the second game."
Buducnost forward Makro Simonovic:
"We are happy to end the game just 2 points behind Galatasaray Cafe Crown. It's a very tough and hard game especially on the defensive end. We take a lot of rebounds on both ends and made open shots. So the result came because of that reason. For the next game, we have to play even better in order to win and move into the group stages of the Eurocup."
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