Galatasaray, Banvit win semifinal berths

BURSA

Galatasaray Medical Park players celebrate after beating Tofaş 79-73 in the Game 2 of their Beko Turkish Basketball League series and advancing to the semifinals. DHA photo

Galatasaray Medical Park players celebrate after beating Tofaş 79-73 in the Game 2 of their Beko Turkish Basketball League series and advancing to the semifinals.

Galatasaray Medical Park and Banvit became the first semifinalists in the Beko Turkish Basketball League (TBL) playoffs after sweeping their first round series on May 8. 

Bosnian guard Nihad Dedovic scored 15 points as regular season leader Galatasaray Medical Park beat Tofaş 79-73 to finish the best-of-three series in just two games. Galatasaray Medical Park used a late rally to cut the 8-point lead of the Bursa team. The Lions won 20-6 in the last quarter of the game to win the match. 

Veteran Croatian center Jurica Zuza scored 19 points to lead all players, but his efforts were not enough for Tofaş. 

“We had the lead until the last five minutes of the game but we made some small mistakes, which Galatasaray fully exploited,” coach Nihat İziç said after the game. “Now the league is over for us, we will start thinking about next season.” 

Galatasaray Medical Park will meet the winner of the all-Istanbul tie between Beşiktaş Milangaz and Fenerbahçe Ülker in the semifinals. After winning the first game, Beşiktaş was visiting Fenerbahçe yesterday. The game was still in progress as the Hürriyet Daily News went to print. 

Banvit, who finished the regular season in second spot, eased through the semifinals after beating Aliağa Petkim 80-64 in the second game. 

American forward Chuck Davis scored 19 points while guard Serkan Erdoğan added 16 points to power Banvit past its opponent. 

Banvit will meet the winner of the Anadolu Efes vs. Pınar Karşıyaka tie. Efes was leading the series and was searching its second win in yesterday’s Game Two in İzmir.