By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
After that Bahcesehir, Tofas Bursa, and Pinar Karsiyaka all failed to deliver in their first game of the Play-Ins series, Darussafaka is the first Turkish team to get the win in Game 1, beating SL Benfica 89-76 away.
Dogus Özdemiroglu proves to be in one of the best shapes of his career, recording the second BCL double-double in a row with 18 points and 14 assists.
The other two stars of the black-and-green team, Gabriel Olaseni and Markel Starks, combined for 27 points, while Akwasi Yeboah got a season-high 17 points despite the arrival of Aaron White (9 p).
Toney Douglas, who has now scored more than 10 points in six of his seven BCL games, had the best game of his season so far, with 24 points and 10/17 FG. However, he got fouled out with 2:26 left.
Ivan Almeida had a decent game with 10 points and 6 rebounds, while Terrell Carter had 11 being perfect from the field (4/4) but recording 5 turnovers as well. Aaron Broussard scored the same amount.
Darussafaka, which conceded just 0.96 points per possession in the Regular Season, the best defensive ratio in the BCL in 2022/23, has always led during the game.
The Turkish team had better numbers in steals (13 vs 6), assists (26 vs 16), free throws (18/19 vs 14/20), points from turnover (28 vs 15), and points from the bench (19 vs 13). Despite scoring 10 points more than their opponents in the paint, SL Benfica came up short.
The winner of this series (G2 on 11/01) will end up in Group L of the Round of 16, with Surne Bilbao, Lenovo Tenerife, and UCAM Murcia or Pinar Karsiyaka. The Spanish side beat the Turkish team 97-92 in Game 1 despite a monstrous performance by Braian Angola.
PHOTO CREDIT: Basketball Champions League