20 October, 2020
09 May, 2021
7 D'angelo Harrison (BRIN)
13/01/2021
Game Report
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Brindisi, Turk Telekom clinch berths in Play-Offs - Week 10 Wednesday roundup

MIES (Switzerland) - Turk Telekom overturned a 19-point deficit to beat Hapoel Jerusalem and Happy Casa Brindisi prevailed over Darüssafaka Tekfen, as both teams punched their tickets to the BCL Play-Offs thanks to big road wins on Wednesday.

Meanwhile SIG Strasbourg clinched top spot in Group E, after outlasting VEF Riga in a nail-biting double overtime clash.

Hapoel Bank Yahav Jerusalem 77-78 Turk Telekom -- Group G


Turk Telekom came back from a 19-point deficit to snatch a 78-77 victory at Hapoel Bank Yahav Jerusalem and punch their ticket to the Play-Offs in truly memorable fashion.

Hapoel Jerusalem meanwhile slide to 2-3 in the standings and will need to defeat Limoges CSP on the road as well as Turk Telekom to beat Igokea on the final day of action in Group G, in order to claim the second spot to the Play-Offs from this group.

Turk Telekom got off a to a nearly catastrophic start on Wednesday as they missed their first 9 shots from beyond the arc and had already committed 12 turnovers by halftime, off which Hapoel scored 22 points.

A Suleiman Braimoh layup 3:20 from the end of the second frame capped off a 17-5 Hapoel burst and stretched the hosts' lead to 40-23.

But Turk Telekom showed signs of improvement after the interval and started chipping away at the deficit late in the third quarter.

With Hapoel still leading by double digits, 72-61 with 6:22 left to play, Nick Johnson hit a jumper and Kyle Wiltjer followed up by drilling his first triple of the night to spark Turk Telekom's late charge.

Kamar Baldwin pulled up from the elbow and tied the scores at 77-77 with 39 seconds remaining on the clock and, after Hapoel wasted a possession on the other end, he drew a foul and gave Turk Telekom their first lead of the night from the stripe, just three seconds from the final buzzer.

Sam Dekker paced Turk Telekom with 20 points, 8 rebounds and 3 assists and Nick Johnson chipped in with 15 points, 6 boards and 4 assists. Hapoel's TaShawn Thomas and Tamir Blatt finished with 15 points apiece in defeat.

Darüssafaka Tekfen 83-87 Happy Casa Brindisi -- Group H


Happy Casa Brindisi booked their first trip to the BCL Play-Offs in club history and will battle it out with Hereda San Pablo Burgos for first place in Group H, after finishing strong to defeat Darüssafaka Tekfen 87-83 on the road on Wednesday.

The Italian team, who would have secured the Play-Offs even if they lost to Darüssafaka by up to 10 points, certified their great start to the 2020-21 season by playing for nothing else than victory in Turkey.

Darüssafaka led by as many as 13 points in the third quarter, as an Andrew Andrews floater 3:22 from the end of the period extended the Turkish team's lead to 61-48 and filled them with confidence a 11-point win was within their grasp.

But Mattia Udom drilled two triples in quick succession at the start of the fourth stanza for Brindisi to trim down the gap.

With Darüssafaka leading 72-66 and 5:21 remaining on the clock, Ousman Krubally scored with a layup to spark a 9-0 Brindisi run and the visitors turned the tables on their hosts.

D'Angelo Harrison missed his first six shots from the floor but came up big for Brindisi down the stretch to lead the way with 24 points, 4 rebounds and 4 assists, while Darius Thompson and Alessandro Zanelli finished with 11 points and 4 assists apiece.

Andrews finished with a game-high 28 points on 6 of 9 three-point shooting and added 5 assists for Darüssafaka who slide to 1-4 in the standings and will try to avoid finishing bottom of the group in their maiden BCL campaign.

SIG Strasbourg 101-94 VEF Riga (after 2OT) -- Group E


SIG Strasbourg outlasted VEF Riga 101-94 in a double-overtime thriller at home behind a 31-point display by Bonzie Colson, to secure first-place finish in Group E with a game to spare.

The Latvian team meanwhile are going up against Peristeri on the final day of the Regular Season and will pick up the other ticket to the Play-Offs from this group if they win, or if they lose by no more than three points.

Colson made the most of a beautiful inbound pass by Ishmail Wainright and drilled a triple 8 seconds from the end of regulation to tie the scores at 82-82 and send the game into first overtime.

Just like they had done for the largest part of the fourth frame, the two teams traded blows during the first extra period, albeit Strasbourg missed two shots from close range in its final 17 seconds that could have given them the win.

The French team didn't fail in the second extra period though, as Colson knocked down his fourth triple of the night 2:32 from the final buzzer to give them a 96-91 cushion and Jean-Baptiste Maille followed up with a layup to stretch the gap to 7 points, Strasbourg's biggest lead up until then.

Neither team shot the ball particularly well but Strasbourg dished out 26 assists and forced 25 VEF turnovers, off which they scored 27 points. VEF by contrast scored only 14 points off turnovers and missed five crucial free-throws in the final 1:50 of regulation.

Colson had 7 rebounds and 4 steals to go with his 31 points and Jaromir Bohacik contributed 16 points and 7 assists. For VEF, Kyle Allman had 21 points and Isaiah Pineiro posted a double-double of 18 points and 13 boards.