By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
Both opponents did not have any real pressure for the result and that proved to be good for the game. After an entertaining contest, Darussafaka beat Khimki Moscow Region (91-85) and while it was just their fourth win of the season, it will be remembered.
Jordan Mickey cut Dacka’s lead to two points (87-85) with 24 seconds left, Mert Akay made two crucial free throws and Alexey Shved missed his shot in the next possession and Toney Douglas added two more free throws for a total of 20 points.
However, Michael Eric with 22 points and 15 rebounds was the star of the night winning the duel against Mickey (22 p. 6 r.). Jeremy Evans also scored 20 points for the winners, while Alexey Shved did his best with 31 points for the guests.
Still, Darussafaka’s coach Selcuk Ernak wanted to underline the effort of Akay: “I want to give a lot of credit to Mert Akay. The young fellow came off the bench and stayed almost 25 minutes on the court. He had 6 points and 6 assists, but more than that, he was the glue guy. He made our offense go fluently and helped us a lot to achieve this kind of score, over 90 points.”
It was a close game from wire to wire, with the Turkish side getting in the third quarter an eight-point advantage (54-46) and Khimki ending the third period leading by two (65-63). Still, Darussafaka got a 76-70 lead in the 33rd minute of the game and never trailed after that.
As Ernak added: “We had a lot of games in which we were in the game until the end, but we couldn’t manage to pull the W, so that was also a need for us. We struggled also coming back from the EuroLeague in the domestic competition. We had a lot of injuries and tried to keep up with that. That was a bad need, so I am really glad for my players to get this win. This will help us a lot – this is a special season for Darussafaka and we are trying to find the identity of the team and the club in two very tough competitions”.
Photo credit: EuroLeague