By Eurohoops team / info@eurohoops.net
Darussafaka Tefken Istanbul grabbed the win over visiting Buducnost Voli with 71-63 in Day 2 of the new Turkish Airlines EuroLeague season.
Zanis Peiners played a key role for the hosts in this narrow win, as his 15-point contribution was meant to seal the outcome of the game. Notably, Jeremy Evans (7 p.) dominated the boards and ended the game with 12, while Stanton Kidd and Michael Eric finished the game with 12 and 10 points each.
Buducnost’s Earl Clarke and Nemanja Gordic finished the game with 11 points each. “We’re good when we move the ball and we didn’t do it, it’s that simple”, admitted Buducnost’s coach Aleksandar Dzikic. “Our disappointment on offense was reflected in our defense. We allowed too many points in the paint”.
In this low-scoring battle between the two teams, the visiting side stepped up in the final period and managed to tie the score to 55 points (32′) and even managed to overtake the course for a few minutes. Peiners checked himself in for Darussafaka in the final minute of the game and helped the hosts seal the victory.
Coach Ahmet Caki was happy about the result but still believes his team can do better: “I feel good but also, we played really stressed. We couldn’t play our real game, especially on offense. I am happy but it shows us we have a long way to improve. Actually, I believe we don’t have enough EuroLeague experience. We are a new team at the beginning of the season, this is why we didn’t play the way we liked, especially on offense. We have talented guys and if we find the way to play together, I believe we have that potential. We will always be less experienced, but we have to fight and put extra energy to cover for that.”
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Photo credit: Twitter / Darussafaka