Jonah Mathews led five Besiktas scorers in double figures with 21 points
Besiktas climbs to fourth place with 87-72 triumph over Trefl

Besiktas Fibabanka Istanbul held off a stiff challenge from Trefl Sopot before pulling away late for an 87-72 victory on Wednesday night at Besiktas Fibabanka Sports Complex. The result lifted Besiktas into fourth place in Group A with a 9-7 record, while last-place Trefl fell to 1-15.
Jonah Mathews led five Besiktas scorers in double figures with 21 points. Kyle Allman netted 17 points, Uros Plavsic and Yigit Arslan netted 12 each and Dustin Sleva had 11. Geoffrey Groselle paced Trefl with 16 points, Aaron Best and Jakub Schenk scored 15 apiece and Nahiem Alleyne 14.
Game Videos
Mathews scored the first points of the game with a mid-range jumper, but it was Trefl that impressed the most in the early going, opening a 4-8 lead after baskets by Best, Mikolaj Witlinski and Jaroslaw Zyskowski. Mathews kept charging Besiktas, however, and scored 8 points in an 11-2 run to make it 15-10. Allman and Arslan helped swell the lead to double digits at 22-11, and Arslan’s three from the EuroCup logo to end the quarter boosted the hosts’ advantage to 27-15.
Wins have not accompanied Trefl this season but its fighting spirit has never been in doubt, as it showed in the second quarter. Best’s triple was followed by three free throws by Bartosz Jankowski, which reduced the gap to six points (27-21). Although Besiktas restored its double-digit lead at 31-21 and 33-23, Trefl responded through Best, Darious Moten, Groselle and Schenk to pull within one point at 33-32. Alleyne’s three-point play ended up giving Trefl its first lead since early in the first period, 36-39, but Allman scored 7 points in the final 2:42 minutes as Besiktas took a 49-39 lead into the break.
Plavsic scored twice while the Besiktas defense held the visitors scoreless in the first few minutes of the second half to extend the lead. Alleyne connected from deep and Best scored twice as Trefl went on a 0-8 run to get within 53-48. Alleyne twice made it a 3-point game before Schenk stepped up with an acrobatic layup and free throws to give Trefl a 57-58 lead. Besiktas scored the next 6 points, with Arslan knocking down a three, which caused Trefl to call timeout. Jumpers by Needham and Schenk left the scoreboard at 65-60 after three quarters.
Jumpers by Conor Morgan and Needham stretched the Besiktas lead early in the fourth quarter only to see Alleyne and Schenk respond from close range. Groselle made it 69-66. Besiktas bounced back through 5 points from Mathews. Groselle and Mathews traded shots with a turnaround jumper by the latter making it 78-70. Arslan’s fourth triple of the night restored a double-digit margin. Plavsic’s alley-oop slam all but sealed the outcome as Besiktas completed an 11-0 run to complete the victory.