He set career highs with 22 points and 11 assists
Dogus Ozdemiroglu’s bounce-back leads to career night in Turk Telekom win over Lietkabelis
Game Report
3 Mins read
Regular Season
Round 16 of 18
Regular Season
group b
Turk Telekom AnkaraTTA
8575
Lietkabelis PanevezysLIE
group b
Overview
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Dogus Ozdemiroglu had extra motivation for Turk Telekom Ankara’s Round 16 game against Lietkabelis Panevezys, and it resulted in a career night and a big win for the Turkish side.
Ozdemiroglu poured in 22 points and dished out 11 assists in Turk Telekom’s 85-75 victory, extending its winning streak to four games and improving to 11-5 in Group B. His previous career highs were 19 points, set against Lietkabelis in Round 7 of this season, and 8 assists versus Cosea JL Bourg-en-Bresse in Round 2. The point guard also posted a career-best 27 PIR, topping the 26 he recorded earlier this season against Lietkabelis.
“As a team, we played really good basketball. We defended better in the second half, and I am happy that we got a clear win,” said the 29-year-old playmaker, who won the EuroCup with Darussafaka Istanbul in 2018.
Ozdemiroglu had Turk Telekom’s weekend loss in the Turkish League on his mind after struggling in an 82-73 defeat at Bahcesehir College Istanbul. In that game, he scored just 2 points on 1-of-8 shooting, adding 5 rebounds, 4 assists and 1 steal before fouling out. He also committed 6 turnovers.
“I tried to help my team in this game. I was extra motivated because we have to protect our home court, and every win is needed for the standings,” he said.
Ozdemiroglu was the standout performer in an otherwise balanced effort. Marko Simonovic scored 12 points, Kyle Alexander added 10, and four other players finished with at least 7 points. Still, ball control was an issue, as Turk Telekom committed 17 turnovers – a stat that bothered head coach Erdem Can.
“Yes, we won a very important game, but the way we played is not enough for a high-level basketball team,” Can said. “It is unacceptable to make 17 turnovers. Defensively, we worked and were solid, but because of the turnovers we allowed our opponents to score 75 points. Without them, it would have been even less. We need to work hard and get better.”
A strong first quarter from Ozdemiroglu helped Turk Telekom build a nine-point lead, and the hosts were up 25-20 after 10 minutes. Back-to-back three-pointers later pushed the advantage into double figures at 39-28.
Michael Flowers hit two triples among his eight points during a 2-10 run that brought Lietkabelis within 41-38. Turk Telekom still led 45-38 at halftime.
The home side came out strong in the second half and stretched the cushion to 12 points at 55-43. Lietkabelis refused to go away, twice trimming the deficit to six, but Turk Telekom held a 66-57 lead after 30 minutes.
Lietkabelis briefly gave its fans hope by cutting the gap to 67-62, but Turk Telekom answered with a 12-2 run to put the game out of reach. The visitors could get no closer than nine points the rest of the way.
Lietkabelis continues to struggle, suffering its fourth straight loss and seventh in the last eight games to fall to 3-13. Justas Furmanavicius led five players in double figures with 14 points, while Lazar Mutic and Jamel Morris each scored 13. Fardaws Aimaq added 6 points and 15 rebounds, but the Lithuanian side committed 23 turnovers.
“With that number of turnovers, it’s hard to win any game. That killed us today,” said Lietkabelis head coach Nenad Canak.
