Turk Telekom, Hapoel complete series sweeps as Nizhny force Game 3 - Wednesday roundup

MIES (Switzerland) - Turk Telekom and Hapoel Bank Yahav Jerusalem sealed their passage to the Basketball Champions League Quarter-Finals on Wednesday night after emerging victorious on the road against Besiktas and Peristeri, respectively.

Meanwhile in Russia, Nizhny made the most of home comforts and topped Dijon to draw level at 1-1 and take their series to the crucial third game which will determine which of the two teams advances from the Round of 16.

Besiktas Sompo Sigorta 66-84 Turk Telekom (Turk Telekom win series 2-0)

Nick Johnson erupted for a season-high 27 points as Turk Telekom went on a 17-4 run just before halftime to grab the lead and cruised to an 84-66 victory, completing a 2-0 series sweep of Besiktas.

Turk Telekom, who have secured a spot in the Quarter-Finals in what is their maiden BCL campaign, trailed by six points early in the second frame as Besiktas big man Oguz Savas poured in 15 points in the first 15 minutes of play.

Nobody however could upstage Johnson on Wednesday, and the Turk Telekom guard collected 18 points on 7 of 11 shooting from the floor, 3 rebounds and 3 assists already in the first half to make sure the hosts' lead would be short-lived.

With Besiktas leading 33-29 and 4:42 remaining to the halftime buzzer, T.J. Campbell drilled a triple to spark Turk Telekom's burst, which Johnson capped with a trey of his own 17 seconds from the end of the second quarter.

The Ankara team went into the interval leading 46-37 and picked up after the break where they left off, as a Moustapha Fall hook shot 4:45 from the end of the third period stretched their lead to 20 points, 59-39, putting the game beyond the reach of Besiktas

Johnson had 8 assists and 6 rebounds to go with his 27 points while Campbell finished with 16 points and 6 assists for Turk Telekom, who played without the sidelined through injury Kyle Wiltjer and Muhammed Baygül. For Besiktas, Savas finished with 23 points, 8 rebounds and 5 assists in a huge but ultimately losing effort.

Peristeri winmasters 73-79 Hapoel Bank Yahav Jerusalem (Hapoel win series 2-0)

Hapoel Jerusalem all but abolished a 20-point second-quarter lead but turned back tenacious Peristeri down the stretch to clinch a 79-73 win in Athens and reach the Quarter-Finals for the second season in a row.

In an encounter that was played behind closed doors due to the coronavirus outbreak, the visitors' excellent first-half defense stifled the Greek team while James Feldeine got the hot hand on the other end of the floor and poured in 19 points by the halftime buzzer, on 4 of 5 shooting from downtown.

A Feldeine triple 55 seconds from the interval gave Hapoel their biggest lead of the night, 44-24, but Peristeri came back after the break with renewed determination to avoid being swept.

The hosts used a 19-4 burst at the start of the third frame to reduce the gap to just three points, 50-47. The two teams traded blows into the final stanza but Bar Timor scored with a layup and, after Peristeri turned the ball over, TaShawn Thomas hit a big three at the end of the shot clock to give Hapoel a 9-point cushion, 66-57.

Peristeri managed to cut the deficit back to five points going into the final minute but, after J’Covan Brown split two free-throws, the hosts fluffed their lines on offense and Brown sealed the deal for Hapoel with two shots from the foul line, 79-71 with just 27 seconds left on the clock.

Brown finished with 25 points, 4 assists and 3 rebounds while Feldeine had 24 points, 3 assists and 3 boards to pave the way for Hapoel. Yanick Moreira collected a double-double of 14 points and 11 rebounds for Peristeri, who shot a poor 4 of 26 from three-point range.

Nizhny Novgorod 88-79 JDA Dijon (series tied 1-1)

Nizhny used a late surge to finally shake off Dijon and clinched an 88-79 win in front of their fans to tie the series and force Game 3 back in France.

The Russian side entered the Wednesday clash with their back on the wall and the urgency in their game was immediately apparent as they grabbed the lead shortly after tip-off.

The hosts however appeared unable to build a double-digit lead and Dijon kept breathing down their necks until the start of the final stanza, when Terell Parks came back on the court with Nizhny holding a slim 65-63 lead.

The American forward scored off a teammate's miss on back-to-back possessions and his fighting attitude ignited a 13-2 Nizhny burst, which Evgenii Baburin capped with his sixth triple of the night to make it 78-65 for the hosts with just four minutes left to play. Dijon never really attempted a late comeback and simply reduced the deficit back to single digits on the last play of the game.

Nizhny's dominance on the glass was instrumental to their win, as they out-rebounded Dijon 36 to 20 and scored 15 second-chance points, to the French side's 4.

Baburin finished with 22 points and 3 assists while Parks collected a double-double of 14 points and 10 rebounds. Richard Solomon had 18 points for Dijon in defeat.