The winners improved their playoff hopes by distancing themselves from Wolves with the win.
Besiktas powers past Wolves, 72-59



Besiktas Emlakjet Istanbul grabbed its first home win in three games by beating Wolves Vilnius 72-59 on Wednesday evening. The Turkish side took its revenge on Wolves, which had beaten Besiktas 90-88 in the first game between the two teams back in October. With this victory, Besiktas improved to an 8-5 record, while Wolves dropped to 4-8.
Angel Delgado produced a sublime performance, having recorded 16 points, 14 rebounds and 6 assists, while Matthew Mitchell netted 15 points too. Tre'shawn Thurman paced the guests with 15 points and Garrison Brooks paired his 10 points with 8 rebounds.
Derek Needham scored the first basket of the game with a layup, but the two teams went scoreless for the next couple of minutes before Delgado made it 4-0 from inside. The Besiktas guard nailed a triple for an early 7-0 run, but Christian Mekowulu made 1 of 2 from the free-throw line for Wolves’s first point of the night. Mitchell scored 5 unanswered points for Besiktas’s first double-digit lead of the night, 12-1, midway through the first quarter. A Yigit Arslan three-pointer was followed by Kyle Allman’s first bucket of the game, 17-3. Vaidas Kariniauskas netted Wolves’s first field goal 8 minutes into the duel, but Besiktas took an 18-9 cushion into the second quarter.
A Regimantas Miniotas put-back basket was followed by triples from Mitchell and Mathews, but Adas Juskevicius and Garrison Brooks sank a basket each to cut the difference to 24-17. Brooks threw down a slam, but Mathews and Delgado responded with a bucket apiece on the other end to restore a double-digit lead, 32-20. Egehan Arna scored a corner triple before Delgado completed a three-point play and then Allman netted in transition for a Besiktas 43-23 lead heading into halftime.
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Mitchell and Juskevicius exchanged baskets to open the third quarter, with the former taking his tally to 13 points after hitting a couple of free throws, 47-25. Delgado completed his double-double less than 4 minutes into the second half when he already had 11 points and as many rebounds, to allow Besiktas to maintain a 22-point lead. Arnas Berucka nailed Wolves’s first triple of the night midway through the quarter, 51-30. Arslan completed a three-point play, but the guests made 4 free throws to make it 54-34.
Besiktas was up by 20 points with the start of the closing quarter, with Leyton Hammonds drilling his first triple for a 61-38 cushion. Kariniauskas nailed one from downtown too, but a couple of Allman dunks and a Delgado basket allowed the hosts to grab a 67-44 lead with six minutes to go. The Turkish side dictated the tempo in the closing stages and gave some rest to their starters in head coach Dusan Alimpijevic’s attempt to manage their minutes. This allowed Wolves to fight back and reduce the deficit, but Besiktas managed to seal a comfortable win.