The home team stormed into the quarterfinals with its best performance of the season.
London overwhelms Turk Telekom, 100-77, to reach quarters
The London Lions overwhelmed visiting Turk Telekom Ankara 100-77 to march into the BKT EuroCup quarterfinals after a flawless performance in the first knockout stage of the competition, in front of a vociferous crowd at Copper Box arena. The Lions will face Romanian side U-BT Cluj-Napoca on the road for a berth in the semifinals and it promises to be an entertaining clash between two teams that have already exceeded expectations this season.
David Nwaba paced the Lions with 19 points and 4 rebounds while Gabe Olaseni chipped in with 18 points and 8 boards, as the duo underlined the home team’s superiority in the paint. Matthew Morgan racked up 16 points and 4 assists, Josh Sharma added 12 points and 5 boards and Jordan Taylor scored 10 points for the Lions. At the other end, Tyrone Wallace led Turk Telekom with a game-high 25 points. James Palmer netted 16 points, Steven Enoch scored 12 and Yigitcan Saybir added 10 for the visitors, who trailed throughout the contest after seeing an early 0-5 lead wiped out.
Powered by Morgan, who poured 11 points in the first quarter, the Lions carved out a 32-23 lead at the end of the opening 10 minutes, with Sharma and Olaseni netting 8 points each as the hosts trampled the Turkish side with fast-paced offense.
The trend continued as London kept up the pressure to open up a 60-44 lead at the interval, breaking the club’s scoring record in a half thanks to effervescent shooting. The home team made a staggering 19 of 23 shots from two-point range and 4 of 8 from downtown in the first half, picking Turk Telekom’s defense apart with quick movement of the ball. The strategy generated 11 assists and just 4 turnovers in the opening half, while the visitors managed 9 assists and committed 8 turnovers against a more athletic rival.
Game Videos
Turk Telekom gave itself a glimmer of hope when it slashed London’s lead to 66-55 early in the third quarter, but the visiting team’s challenge was vanquished by a 13-2 Lions streak which gave the hosts a massive lead ahead of the final 10 minutes.
The Turkish team launched one last fightback early in the fourth which cut the deficit to 82-69, but London replied yet again with an 11-0 run and had the passionate home crowd in raptures on the final buzzer.