Needing a win to stay strong in the Group A race, the visitors made it happen late.
Besiktas snaps losing skid, keeps Cedevita winless



Besiktas Emlakjet Istanbul returned to its winning ways as it fought off Cedevita Olimpija Ljubljana 83-88 to snap a three-game losing streak. Angel Delgado came up with a big double-double of 19 points and 12 rebounds to help Besiktas improve to 7-5 and solidify itself in the playoffs ranks of Group A. Jonah Mathews added 18 points, Derek Needham had 15 and Yigit Arslan chipped in 13 for the winners. Cedevita, now 0-12, remains the only EuroCup team without a victory despite Karlo Matkovic scoring 22 points while Justin Cobbs had 19 points and 8 assists in the loss.
Besiktas started strong
Needham drained 2 three-pointers and Mathews added a triple as Besiktas raced out to a 5-13 lead. Cedevita closed the gap to 10-15 only to see Needham to connect from long range again as the visitors' cushion grew to 11-22. The hosts temporarily trimmed it to 18-24, but Egehan Arna joined the Besiktas three-point barrage and the Turkish side led 22-29 after 10 minutes. Cedevita had the first 4 points of the second quarter before Kyle Allman tallied 4 for Besiktas. Gregor Glas answered with 5, however, to put Cedevita ahead 36-35. Cobbs showed his veteran presence with 4 perfect free throws in keeping the hosts up 40-37 as he had 12 points already. Arslan scored 4of the next 6 points as Besiktas reclaimed the lead and went into the locker room with a 42-43 advantage.
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Besiktas finally took control
Needham continued his strong play early in the second half with his fourth three-pointer and Delgado’s inside score made it 42-48. Another 4 points by Delgado increased the Besiktas advantage to 47-55. Matkovic and DJ Stewart responded by filling a 10-0 run to put Cedevita back in front, 57-55. Cedevita still led 61-60 before failing to score in the final 2:25 minutes of the third quarter while Egehan Arna and Kerem Konan both grabbed steals for dunks in a 0-7 finish that left Besiktas back in charge, 61-67.
A three-pointer and 2 free throws from Arslan extended the visitors' cushion to 63-72 early in the final quarter. Cedevita tried to stay close but Arslan scored 4 more points and Delgado converted a three-point play to make it 69-81 with under 5 minutes left. Cedevita was not ready to give up with Matkovic scoring 5 points to open a 9-0 spurt to get within 78-81. Mathews hit a big fadeaway jumper with 52 seconds remaining to push the lead out to 78-84. After 2 Matkovic free throws, Jaka Blazic grabbed a steal but turned it right back over with 36 seconds left. Besiktas ended up going to the foul line three times in the next possession thanks to a pair of offensive rebounds by Delgado and Needham’s foul shot made it 80-86 with 21 seconds left, ending the suspense.