ANKARA
Turkish side Galatasaray Liv Hospital were stunned by Serbia’s Crvena Zvezda Telekom Belgrade – commonly known as Red Star Belgrade – 76-68 at Kombank Arena last night in the first round of the Turkish Airlines Euroleague.
The Serbian team won in Belgrade under the leadership of towering center Boban Marjanovic who made a ‘double-double’ (22 points, 10 rebounds). He was followed by U.S. guard Marcus Williams scoring 15 points and producing seven assists. Slovenian guard Jaka Blazic contributed by scoring 12 points.
Galatasaray Liv Hospital's top scorer was Serbian center Zoran Erceg with 17 points scored but it was not enough for the visitors. The Turkish team's Italian guard, Pietro Aradori, scored 11 points as well as having six rebounds.
Meanwhile another Turkish club, Anadolu Efes, beat Russian team Unics Kazan 82-76 at the Abdi Ipekci Arena, Istanbul.
Anadolu Efes’ U.S. guard, Dontaye Draper, was the top scorer for his team, managing to score 16 points. He was followed by Serbian center Nenad Krstic on 15 points and taking six rebounds. Fellow American guard Matthew Janning made a 12-point-contribution. Anadolu Efes' Greek forward Stratos Perperoglou was one of the key factors for the victory as he completed the game with 10 points and seven rebounds.
The Russian team tried to resist their Turkish opponents with US skipper Keith Langford scoring 19 points. James White ended the showdown with a ‘double-double’ (13 points and 10 rebounds). In addition, other U.S. players on the team, Curtis Jerrells and D'or Fischer, made double figures scoring 11 and 10 points respectively.
Reigning Turkish Basketball League champions Fenerbahce Ulker, who recently strengthened their squad with former Maccabi Electra Tel Aviv point guard Ricky Hickman, Serbian guard Bogdan Bogdanovic and towering Czech forward Jan Vesely, will host Italian EA7 Emporio Armani Milano at the Ulker Sports Arena on Friday. The game between the sides will tip off at 2100 CET (2000 GMT).
Turkish Airlines Euroleague results are as follows:
Anadolu Efes 82-76 Unics Kazan
Cedevita Zagreb 63-78 Unicaja Malaga
Maccabi Electra Tel Aviv 92-76 Limoges CSP
Laboral Kutxa Vitoria 88-69 Neptunas Klaipeda
Crvena Zvezda Telekom Belgrade 76-68 Galatasaray Liv Hospital
Valencia Basket 68-71 Olympiakos
Friday's fixtures are as follows:
Group A
Oct. 17 - Nizhny Novgorod v Dinamo Sassari at 1800 CET (1700 GMT)
Oct. 17 - Real Madrid v Zalgiris Kaunas at 1930 CET (1830 GMT)
Group B
Oct. 17 - ALBA Berlin v CSKA Moscow at 2015 CET (1915 GMT)
Group C
Oct. 17 - Panathinaikos v PGE Turow at 2030 CET (1930 GMT)
Oct. 17 - Fenerbahce Ulker v EA7 Emporio Armani Milano at 2100 CET (2000 GMT)
Oct. 17 - Barcelona v Bayern Munich at 2130 CET (2030 GMT)
www.aa.com.tr/en
