A 2-13 late surge allowed the guests to clinch their 11th win this season
‘Composed’ Bahcesehir prevailed in battle of runs to secure playoff berth
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Regular Season
Round 13 of 18
Group A
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Surrendering a 16-point lead and seeing your opponent secure a seven-point cushion midway through the fourth quarter in a tight clash could deal a blow to morale to any team. Yet, Bahcesehir College Istanbul showed character, fought back and responded in the most emphatic way to win a battle of runs at Dolomiti Energia Trento on Friday night, a win that sealed the Turkish side's place in the BKT EuroCup Playoffs.
Bahcesehir hit the ground running and took an early 4-20 lead, but Trento responded with a 10-4 surge that cut the difference to 10 points heading into the second quarter. The hosts tightened up their defense and held the Group A leader to just 14 points in each of the next two quarters, gradually chomping down their advantage. The guests led by 35-43 a couple of minutes into the third, but a 13-2 run saw Trento take its first lead of the game with just over 13 minutes remaining.
The Italian outfit maintained that edge in the closing quarter, when Jordan Ford took over by netting 8 straight points to open a 67-60 lead halfway through the fourth. Yet, that wasn’t meant to be the last big run of the contest, as Bahcesehir responded with a 2-13 surge of its own fueled by Jaleen Smith to seal a narrow 69-73 victory.
Smith netted a total of 15 points, 5 of which came in the last 4 minutes, with Tai Odiase recording the same scoring tally, which he paired with 6 rebounds. The Bahcesehir center stressed after the game that it was his team’s mentality on both ends in the closing stages that allowed them to turn the game around and escape with the win.
“It was a game of runs,” Odiase noted. “[Trento] are a really good team. We know what they’ve done against big teams in our league. So, we just had to stay composed and down the stretch we did that and we got the win.”
Bahcesehir remains top of the BKT EuroCup Group A after opening 2025 with its 11th win this season. Coming up next is a home clash against Buducnost VOLI Podgorica next week, when an equally composed Bahcesehir could extend its perfect home record to an 8-0.