In the second match of the play-in stage of the FIBA Champions League’s struggle to advance to the last 16 rounds in basketball, TOFAŞ lost to Greece’s AEK team 85-82.
Bursa representative said goodbye to the tournament by falling behind 2-0 in the series with this score.
In the first 5 minutes of the quarter, when both teams had trouble finding points, AEK, which was more effective, scored 9-4 with Miles and Mithcell. Increasing its energy on the floor after this minute, TOFAŞ was effective with Gray and Ennis in the remaining minutes of the quarter and finished the period 18-9 with a 14-0 series.
Starting the second quarter fast with Williams’ three-pointers in a row, AEK melted the gap and equalized in the 13th minute: 20-20. In the quarter where the defense increased and 24 seconds were used until the last moments, Bursa representative played better and went ahead 42-38 in the locker room.
At the beginning of the third quarter, both teams were struggling to score, while Flionis and Mithcell responded to Toure’s basket in Bursa team, and equalized again (45-45) in the 25th minute. After this minute, AEK, which increased the tempo against TOFAŞ, which frequently lost turnovers, entered the final period with a score advantage of 61-52 by counting with Madsen and Williams.
The last period was the scene of contention. Trying to reduce the gap, AEK found points from the set attacks with Mithcell and Frazier against TOFAŞ, and increased the gap to 14 points (69-55) in the 33rd minute. After the time-out, TOFAŞ, which was on the floor with the support of the audience, came to life again with Ennis’ assists and points and equalized the score with 1 minute left: 78-78. When the Bursa representative could not take the opportunity to take the lead with simple mistakes in the last seconds, AEK punished this situation and left the park 85-82 victorious.
