The series heads back to France for a deciding game after Besiktas held serve at home.
Besiktas blasts Bourg 81-72 to force Game 3

Besiktas followed the inspiration of 15,000-plus home fans to wrestle a 81-72 victory from Bourg and force their BKT EuroCup Semifinals series to a third, do-or-die game next week in France. After a tense first half with 12 lead changes, Besiktas trailed 32-39 soon after halftime at the raucous Sinan Erdem Dome before reeling off an 11-0 run that changed the game for good. The lead reached a high of 73-58 with 5 minutes left before Besiktas closed it out. Jonah Mathews and Matthew Mitchell led five double-digit scores for Besiktas with 17 points each. Angel Delgado added 13 points, Derek Needham 12 and Marko Simonovic 11 for the winners. Isiaha Mike led Bourg with 19 points while Jequan Lewis added 11.
Game Videos
Besiktas suffered 3 quick turnovers before Delgado and Mathews got loose to stake a 4-2 lead. Zaccharie Risacher tied it on a one-handed floater and after Mitchell answered, Mike sent Bourg ahead from deep 6-7. Lewis added a mid-range jumper at 7-9 but Needham topped with a triple to flip the lead again. Mike, despite 2 fouls, buried 7 consecutive points for Bourg to lead 12-16. Berk Ugurlu reeled Besiktas back from long distance and Simonovic restored a Besiktas lead, 17-16. Maxim Salash scored for Bourg but so did Kerem Konan to give Besiktas the 19-18 edge after 10 minutes.
Free throws by Simonovic and Kyle Allman lifted the lead to 23-18 as Bourg was held scoreless for almost 3 minutes of the second quarter until Jeremy Morgan hit a reverse layup and Bodian Massa a lane runner at 23-22. Salash backed down to put the visitors back in front, 23-24. Yigit Arslan and Risacher traded baskets and leads. Simonovic stepped outside to flip it again before Hugo Benitez tied it up for Bourg. Mitchell bumped Besitkas in front and Kevin Kokila tied. Lewis, Delgado and Salash all traded leads before Lewis converted a three-point play with 5 seconds left to leave Bourg in charge, 32-36, at the break.
Lewis beat the shot clock with a triple to give Bourg a 32-39 lead right after halftime. Matthews combined a foul-line jumper with 3 free throws to get Besiktas right back in it before Delgado tied and Matthews canned a second-chance runner for the second half's first lead change, 41-39. Delgado kept it going with a power bucket for an 11-0 Besiktas run before Lewis stopped it with free throws. Mitchell's acrobatic tip-in and jumper extended the difference to 49-43. Simonovic and Mitchell upped it further before the big man made it 55-46 on a steal and slam. Bourg put on a quick 2-7 run to respond, but Needham stole and finished for a 59-53 Besiktas lead after 30 minutes.
Massa and Mathews exchanged baskets to open the final quarter, then Delgado's put-back made it 63-55 for Besiktas. Mitchell's triple in transition after a timeout made it a double-digit difference. Mathews and Mitchell kept pouring it on as the lead soared to 73-58. At 73-62 with 4 minutes left, Mitchell jumped on a fake from Bourg's Lewis and crashed to the floor, hitting his shoulder and head. It took him some minutes before he walked off gingerly, eventually smiling at all the attention. Mike got the difference down to single digits with a jumper and then added a triple to suddenly make it 73-67. He soon added free throws at 74-69 with 2 minutes left, but Needham blasted from deep over Massa and Bourg missed a pair of missed triples, sending the series back to France to be resolved in Game 3 next week.