Brown, Angola and Makoundou led Turk Telekom to its fifth victory in Group B
Turk Telekom rallies past Lietkabelis, 93-98
In a thriller that went down to the final seconds, Turk Telekom Ankara topped 7Bet-Lietkabelis Panevezys 93-98 on the road in Round 10 on Wednesday.
Turk Telekom improved to 5-5 in Group A while Lietkabelis dropped to 2-7. Anthony Brown led the winners with 26 points. Braian Angola added 24, Yoan Makoundou had 23 while Speedy Smith got 10 for Turk Telekom. Martynas Varnas led Lietkabelis with 20 points. Oleksandar Kovliar added 16, Georgios Kalaitzakis had 13, Mantas Rubstavicius 12 and Justin Briggs 10 for the hosts.
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Brown buried a mid-range jumper and Makoundou added a layup to give Turk Telekom an early 2-4 lead. Kalaitzakis sank a corner triple, Brown sank a step-back jumper and Kyle Alexander's dunk boosted the guests' lead to 5-8. Rubstavicius buried a corner three-pointer and Danielius Lavrinovicius dunked but Angola and Makoundou kept Turk Telekom in charge, 10-13. Lavrinovicius struck from downtown, Makoundou matched that with a layup-plus-foul and Kovliar tied it at 15-15. Angola hit a triple, Briggs and Javon Bess traded layups and Brown erased Kovliar's three-point play with a bomb from beyond the arc, good for a 21-23 Turk Telekom lead after 10 minutes.
Vytenis Lipkevicius buried a highly-contested jumper and Kovliar added a bomb from downtown to put Lietkabelis ahead, 26-24. Grantas Vasiliauskas bettered Smith's jumper with a triple and Briggs's layup-plus-foul boosted the hosts' margin to 32-26. Angola struck twice from downtown and soon added a three-point play that made Turk Telekom regain a 34-35 lead. Varnas rescued Lietkabelis and Kalaitzakis sank a three-pointer for a 39-37 score. Alexander took over with a reverse layup, igniting a 0-6 run that Makoundou capped with a put-back basket. Varnas and Smith traded triples and Lavrinovicius's jump hook kept the hosts within 45-46. Makoundou dunked, then Varnas and Lipkevicius put Lietkabelis in charge, 50-48, at halftime.
Varnas struck twice from downtown immediately after the break and added a jumper for a 58-48 Lietkabelis lead, after a 13-0 run. Brown joined the three-point shootout and matched Gabrielius Maldunas's layup with free throws to keep Turk Telekom within 60-53. Multu Akpinar found his first points, Rubstavicius hit a floater and Angola's driving layup got the guests closer, 62-57. Kovliar hit a stop-and-pop jumper that Akpinar bettered with a triple. Makoundou added a tip-in that made Lietkabelis call a timeout at 64-62. Brown and Kovliar traded three-pointers, then Briggs and Kalaitzakis each had a layup-plus-foul to give Lietkabelis fresh air, 74-66, after 30 minutes.
Makoundou and Kovliar traded triples early in the fourth quarter. Makoundou took over with a wild dunk, which Briggs erased with a backdoor layup. Rubstavicius and a red-hot Makoundou each struck from beyond the arc and Brown's jumper got his team within striking distance, 82-79, with under 6 minutes left. Brown improved Maldunas's layup with a triple and Makoundou dunked again to tie it at 84-84. Smith's driving layup soon completed his team's comeback, 85-86. Alexander and Angola made free throws, then Maldunas kept Lietkabelis within 88-90 with 1:52 left. Kalaitzakis banked in a close shot, Angola scored in penetration and Rubtavicius's three-pointer put Lietkabelis ahead, 93-92, with 45.8 seconds left. Brown answered from beyond the arc and Angola split free throws for a 93-96 Turk Telekom lead with 20.4 seconds left. Rubstavicius missed around the basket and Berkan Durmaz sealed the win from the foul line.