Buducnost finally won its first game over Turk Telekom and grabbed the tiebreaker too
Buducnost cautiously optimistic after historic 'double-win' over Turk Telekom
Game Report
3 Mins read
Regular Season
Round 12 of 18
Regular Season
group b
Buducnost VOLI PodgoricaBUD
9181
Turk Telekom AnkaraTTA
group b
Overview
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Buducnost VOLI Podgorica has a lot to celebrate after its important first-ever victory over Turk Telekom Ankara in the BKT EuroCup - what can also be considered a double-win. But at the same time, the Montenegrin team also knows the road ahead is still long.
Buducnost entered the home game with a 0-6 record against the Turkish side but finally came out on top with a 91-81 triumph in a crucial showdown in the Group B standings. Turk Telekom had registered a 79-72 home win in Round 3 and Buducnost overcame that result with a 10-point victory to hold the tiebreaker.
“This was a big game, an intensive game. All the credit to Turk Telekom. But I’m very satisfied. That was a playoff atmosphere. That’s why you want to play in EuroCup. I am so glad we came out with the win tonight,” said Rasheed Sulaimon, who led Buducnost with a season high 25 points, including 5 three-pointers.
Nikola Tanaskovic totaled 17 points and 13 rebounds and Yogi Ferrell finished with 16 points for Buducnost, which is now 8-4, including a 5-1 mark at home. Thanks to a victory over Besiktas GAIN Istanbul earlier this season, Buducnost now sits in second place.
“For us and all our goals for where we want to go this year, this was a must-win,” Sulaimon said. “I am so proud of our guys. We stepped up to the plate and believed in each other and ourselves and that’s why we got the result.”
The 91-81 final score was much higher than most would have predicted, given it was a showdown of the third-best scoring defense (Buducnost - 78.4 ppg) and second-best (Turk Telekom 74.8 ppg). But Buducnost shot 59.4 percent on two-pointers - well above Turk Telekom’s top-ranked defense of 48.6% inside the three-point line.
The game was tight throughout, with no team leading by more than 5 points in the first 33 minutes. The combination of Skylar Mays and Ferrell turned the game around with Mays scoring 6 straight points to make it 77-69 with 5 minutes to go, and then Ferrell tallied 8 points in a row to make it 87-79 with under 3 minutes to play.
“I must congratulate the players, especially in the second half, for their defense. The first half, we were not aggressive or physical enough. That was the main problem. On offense, we were okay, but not on defense in the first half. In the second half, the defense was better. We were tougher and more physical and in the end, this brought us the win,” said Buducnost coach Andrej Zakelj, who also knows there are still six rounds of games in the regular season. “It’s a double win, but it’s far away until the end.”
Turk Telekom was paced by Jaleen Smith, who drained 6 three-pointers for 18 points, while Kyle Allmann added 17 points. But they were not enough in falling to 7-5. Erdem Can’s team had won five straight road games.
“We did not execute anything of our plan offensively or defensively. We allowed our opponent to play in their rhythm. We didn’t use our aggressiveness in the right way. There were so many offensive and defensive mistakes. It’s impossible to win on the road receiving 91 points. And we gave up a lot of cheap points,” Can said.
“This was a very important game for the standings but there are still a lot of games in front of us. It’s a long season. EuroCup is so tough. We need to be focused on the next one.”
