Turkey TBL: Galatasaray stuns Fenerbahce Ulker

Turkey TBL – In the last game of Round 9 of the regular season, Galatasaray Liv Hospital Istanbul was able to climb up the league standings thanks to a hard-fought win over Fenerbahce Ulker Istanbul, 72:62.  With this victory, Galatasaray now has an identical 6-3 with Fenerbahce Ulker, but are ahead of their rivals because of this win. Both teams are just two wins behind league-leading Banvit (8-1) and are part of a rabid pack of six teams gunning for the league’s pole position.

Galatasaray took control of the game early managing to command the first quarter, but Fenerbahce Ulker came back in the second frame. The second half was all Galatasaray, which dominated the visiting team on the glass by a 12-rebound margin, 39-27. A lot of Galatasaray’s players were involved from the get-go and even though only three players scored in double figures three others were at the cusp with nine points. Hustle and good ball movement definitely paid off for the home team.

Off the bench, local guard Ender Arslan (190 cm) led the hosts with a game-high 18 points and four assists. Serbian Milan Makvan (205 cm) and British import Pops Mensah-Bonsu (206 cm) provided his main support by scoring 10 points each.

Fenerbahce Ulker’s Serbian forward, Nemanja Bjelica (209 cm) came up big with 17 points and eight rebounds for the night. Reserve guard, Bo McCalebb (178 cm, New Orleans’08), who has been productive as of late chipped in 13 points in just 18 minutes of action.

The rest of the results for Round 9:

December 8

Royal Hali vs. Anadolu Efes, 59:67

Aliaga vs. Olin Edirne, 102:91

Banvit BK vs. Trabzonspor, 94:78

December 7

Besiktas vs. Mersin, 85:78

Selcuk Universitesi vs. Karsiyaka, 84:98

Tofas vs. TED Kolejliler, 89:84

Turk Telekom vs. Usak, 76:64