Bursaspor downs Promitheas in critical showdown

Frutti Extra Bursaspor snapped its three-game losing streak by downing Promitheas Patras 87-76 at Tofas Spor Salonu on Tuesday. Andrew Andrews scored a season-high 24 points to lead the winners, who improved to 4-7 in Group B.

Regular Season

Round 13 of 18

game Promitheas Patras vs Frutti Extra Bursaspor

Regular Season

group b

Frutti Extra BursasporFEB

8776

Promitheas PatrasPRO

group b

Overview

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Kevarrius Hayes added 17 points for Bursaspor, Derek Needham scored 14, Onuralp Bitim 12 and Metin Turen 10. Dimitris Agravanis led the way with 19 points for Promitheas, which fell to 3-9. Kendrick Ray netted 16 and Nikolaos Gkikas had 12 for the visitors. The game came down to the closing minutes as Ray carried Promitheas to within 80-76, but Needham and Hayes took care of business in crunch time.

Dudzinski got Bursaspor going with a turnaround jumper. Andrews hit a mid-range shot and Needham buried a triple in transition for a 7-2 lead. Hayes took over with a tip-in that Ray matched with a reverse layup. Ray kept pacing Promitheas and got help from Agravanis and Jerai Grant to tie it at 11-11. Bitim sank a step-back jumper and Needham struck from downtown to boost the hosts' lead to 16-11. Turen ignited the crowd with a fastbreak layup. Mihajlo Andric found his first points and Trevis Simpson followed a dunk with a three-pointer, but Andrews and Dudznski kept Bursaspor ahead, 23-17, after 10 minutes.

Andrews insisted from beyond the arc early in the second quarter. Gkikas buried back-to-back triples and Simpson bettered Hayes's alley-oop slam with his own shot from downtown. Andric joined the three-point shootout to give Promitheas its first lead, 28-29. Andric nailed a floater and Ray added baseline jumper for a 29-33 Promitheas edge. Agravanis followed a three-pointer with a backdoor layup, but Needham answered from beyond the arc and Andrews added 2 more from three-point range to tie it at 38-38. After Turen dunked, Nikolaos Rogkavopoulos accidentally scored in his own basket and Bitim hit a jumper that gave Bursaspor a 44-43 edge at halftime.

Needham sank a floater and Hayes improved on Grant's layup with an alley-oop slam-and-one for a 49-45 Bursaspor lead. After Agravanis answered from downtown, Andrews hit a floater and Bitim made consecutive three-pointers to boost the hosts' lead to 57-48. Grant kept pushing Promitheas and Gkikas sank back-to-back corner triples in a 2-10 run that brought Promitheas as close as 59-58. Bitim sent the crowd to their feet with a wild put-back dunk and Turen added a turnaround jumper, giving Bursaspor fresh air at 63-58. Andrews followed a three-pointer with a jumper, singlehandedly boosting the hosts' margin to 70-62 after 30 minutes.

Dudzinski's tip-in made it a double-digit game, 72-62, early in the fourth quarter. Agravanis scored in the low post and Ray added a driving layup and a three-pointer, giving Promitheas hope at 73-69. Hayes stepped up with a dunk and Omer Utku Al downed a corner triple. Ray answered from beyond the arc. Hayes and Dario Hunt traded layups and Agravanis made it 80-76, with 3 minutes left. Needham sank a critical three-pointer and Bitim added free throws that boosted Bursaspor's lead to 85-76 in the next-to-last minute. Little changed after that, as the hosts cruised to a much-needed home victory.