By Johnny Askounis/ info@eurohoops.net
Galatasaray Nef became the second team following Spanish outlet Baxi Manresa to punch in a ticket to the Basketball Champions League Round of 16 after overpowering shorthanded PAOK mateco, 87-75, Wednesday.
Entering Regular Season Round 5 as the joint-leading scorer of FIBA’s premier club continental competition in Europe, DeVaughn Akoon-Purcell threw in 20 more points. Dee Bost contributed 16 points, eight assists, three rebounds, and two steals. Youngster Sadik Emir Kabaca got 16 points and Melo Trimble added 13 points.
The Turkish side was limited to six games in the Regular Season before bowing out in 2020-21. The second BCL run in team history has already gone a step further after jumping to 4-1 and securing the first seed of Group E.
As for PAOK trailing in double-digits for nearly the entire second half, Marvin Jones starring in a late run reducing the margin of defeat finished with 15 points at Sinan Erdem Arena. Malcolm Griffin, Josh Carter, and Vlado Jankovic were all out limiting options for head coach Aris Lykogiannis.
The Greek team after falling to 2-3 is tied with Igokea and ERA Nymburk. The last stop of the double-legged round-robin schedule versus the Bosnia and Herzegovina club will send the winning side to the best-of-three Play-In round if the Czech team beats Galatasaray at home. If Ekrem Memnun’s side improves to 5-1 and forces Nymburk to 2-4, both PAOK and Igokea will be in the Play-Ins schedule to be held in early January.
Postgame press conference:
Photo Credit: Basketball Champions League