Furkan Aldemir leads as Galatasaray Medical Park beat Union Olimpija 79-70 – Euroleague Recap
Galatasaray Medical Park seized control in the finals stages of the game as they squeaked out a 79-70 win over Union Olimpija on November 9 in Ljubljana, Slovenia.
Leading by merely a single point going into the last five minutes of the game, Jamon- Alfred Lucas slipped in a layup to set the basis of a 15-7 spurt, that sparked Galatasaray to a to 2-2 record in Group D. In doing so, Galatasaray
have improved their chances to go to the Turkish Airlines Euroleague Top 16, as they will at least tie for third place at the end of this round.
“The game was decided in the last five minutes. We chose well our shots in the decisive possessions and we played under control. We did everything the way our coach told us,” Medical Park guard Jaka Lakovic said after the game.
Furkan Aldemir recorded a brilliant double-double in his first-ever Euroleague start. Aldemir chipped in a game-high 18 points on 7 for 9 shooting from two-point range and grabbed 11 rebounds. Josh Shipp posted 17 points and stole
the ball twice while Preston Shumpert tallied 11 points and pulled down four rebounds. Darius Songaila also contributed 10 points in the victory.
Aleksandar Capin paced Olimpija with 15 points, three steals and three assists. Ratko Varda added 14 points while Deon Thompson totalled 11 points and four rebounds for Olimpija, who have now dropped to 1-3 and will play four of
their next five games on the road.
Galatasaray rode hot throughout the night and finished on 24 for 36 shooting from the two-point range and 13 for 19 from free throw line.
They got off to an uncharacteristically high-scoring start and were into the double digit lead (14-4) inside the first six minutes. Keyed by Ratko Varda Olimpija rallied back and came within three, 23-20 with a little over a minute
to go in the first frame. Aldemir dunked at that point and Lucas followed him with a lay-up to give Galatasaray a 27-20, however Sasu Salin knocked down a three to make it 27-23 after 10 minutes.
With Preston Shumpert at his best, Medical Park pushed their advantage to a 34-23 lead early in the second quarter, but Olimpija bounced back and capped their surge with five points in the closing minute of the half, to cut their
deficit to seven, 44-37.
Olimpija held the visiting team scoreless for the first three minutes of the third quarter and made it a one-point contest, 44-43. However, Galatasaray took full advantage of their opponent's defensive problems and courtesy of
an 8-0 burst, pushed their lead to nine-points, 52-43.
Olimpija responded. The hosts set the home crowd on fire with 13-5 run in the last five minutes of the third period, pulling within single-digit again as the teams went into the fourth quarter.
Galatasaray started the last frame on a 6-0 run to again open up a sizeable lead, but Olimpija struck back and again made it a single point game midway through the period. What followed though was sheer offensive artistry from
the visitors and this time, they ensured that Olimpija do not have the room to strike back.
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