UTENA (Basketball Champions League) - Pinar Karsiyaka hit back from an early 9-point deficit and beat a determined Juventus Utena to win their Basketball Champions League Group A game, 82-76, on Wednesday evening.

DJ Kennedy, the 28-year-old shooting guard who missed the previous two games through injury, returned with a vengeance for the Turkish club. He poured in 27 points, grabbed 9 rebounds, had 4 assists, 2 steals and 1 block as Pinar Karsiyaka, despite playing without Jarrod Jones, improved to 6-3.

The 28-year-old is proving to be a terror for all opponents because in his three games before getting hurt, Kennedy had scored 24 points, 30 points and 24 points.

The Juventus Utena fans left the arena disappointed, especially knowing that their players had given everything. Twenty-four of their 41 rebounds came on the offensive glass. Their defense also caused a lot of problems for Pinar Karsiyaka, forcing them to turn it over 17 times.

After trailing by 9 points in the second half, Juventus Utena stormed back. They reeled off six unanswered points and closed the gap to 67-66 with 4:15 left after a basket by Kenny Gaines.

Kennedy then scored, however, and teammate Dominic Waters followed with a 3-point play. Kennedy next sank two free-throws to cap the 7-0 run that put the visitors in front to stay.

"Congratulations to Utena for their effort," Pinar Karsiyaka coach Aleksandar Trifunovic said. "They had a big effort in terms of wanting to win the game.

"I think we have to search a long way back and you have to wait a long way in the future to see a team win the game despite the fact that the opponent had 24 (offensive) rebounds and we had 17 turnovers.

"After those 24 rebounds and 17 turnovers, Juventus scored today 40 points, which is literally more than half of their points. To win the game with such parameters, it's the kind of thing we must take care because we'll be punished the next game. 

"I'm very happy despite this that we were able to win the game and make a step towards the next round."