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Besiktas overcame injuries to triumph at Joventut

Besiktas overcame injuries to triumph at Joventut

Članak

5 октобар 20233 Min čitanja

Panos Kostopoulos

Besiktas overcame injuries to triumph at Joventut

Besiktas Emlakjet Istanbul took to the Palau Olimpic de Badalona court to face Joventut Badalona with two important absences. The Turkish side was missing captain Egehan Arna as well as summer signing Matt Mitchell, both of whom are sidelined through injuries. Things got worse for the guests just a minute and a half into the second quarter when Yannick Kraag accidentally elbowed Besiktas star Derek Needham, who was taken to the locker room to receive medical assistance. According to Besiktas head coach Dusan Alimpijevic, Needham suffered a broken nose. He did not return for the remainder of the game.

With the score at 23-17, Besiktas didn’t give up and played even harder on defense, fought for all possessions and dominated in the paint. As Alimpijevic pointed out after the game, this win would be dedicated to their teammates who couldn’t fight alongside them on the court.

"The players deserved this incredible end," he noted. "We came without two players. This win is for our captain Egehan [Arna], who stayed at home, this is for Matt Mitchell, for Derek Needham, who broke his nose. This is something really special and emotional for us."

The bench contributed 28 points and although Besiktas was trailing for 35 minutes, its players waited for an opportunity to turn the game around and put their team ahead. They held the hosts scoreless for more than 3 minutes in the closing stages and snatched a huge road victory thanks to a Leyton Hammonds game-winning basket in their last possession.

"This was a team fight," said Berkan Durmaz, who posted 10 points and 10 rebounds. "We played for each other. When we made mistakes, we tried to cover our teammates. We are so happy that we started the season this way away at Badalona. We played for Egehan Arna, our captain, who got hurt two days ago, Derek, who injured his nose and Matt, who was out too. We fought for them, we fought for each other and we won the game."

Despite playing without three important members of the roster for around three quarters, an inspired Besiktas came out victorious from one of the toughest courts in the competition. When the three men return to action, they are aware that they have what it takes to look any BKT EuroCup opponent in the eye.