How it happened: Dijon make history with 20-point comeback in the fourth
MIES (Switzerland) - JDA Bourgogne Dijon were trailing by 25 with 13 minutes left in the game, by 20 with 10 minutes to play, and still managed to pull off the biggest comeback in BCL history and win 96-93
MIES (Switzerland) - JDA Bourgogne Dijon were trailing by 25 with 13 minutes left in the game, by 20 with 10 minutes to play, and still managed to pull off the biggest comeback in BCL history and defeat Galatasaray EKMAS 96-93, in front of their fans in Istanbul.
Dee Bost hit a deep three-pointer to make it 80-55 with just over three minutes to play in the third quarter, and it seemed like the fans in Sinan Erdem Arena were about to enjoy a record-breaking 100-plus point scoring performance by their team.
They did indeed witness a record. It was just not their team who set it.
🚨 𝗪𝗔𝗧𝗖𝗛 𝗡𝗢𝗪 🚨
— Basketball Champions League (@BasketballCL) January 30, 2024
📺 @jdadijonbasket tie the #BasketballCL record for the biggest comeback, losing by 25 and winning the game on the road in Istanbul! 😵 pic.twitter.com/hwS3XTRXzy
Cameron Hunt began what was a historical comeback from that point on, cutting the gap to 23 points. The score was 83-63 at the start of the fourth, but that's when Allan Dokossi turned into prime David Robinson on both ends of the floor, putting a lid on the basket defensively, finishing easily around the rim offensively.
The first crucial play was a Dokossi and-one to cut the deficit to 11 points, and after he missed the free-throw, he grabbed his own rebound and made a layup to make it single digits on the scoreboard.
The second crucial point was when Leyton Hammonds and David Holston joined Dokossi's party but from outside, hitting back-to-back three-pointers to put the Sinan Erdem Arena into panic mode, as Dijon cut the gap to 90-87 with just three minutes left on the game clock.
Klemen Prepelic did his best to keep Galatasaray in front, but after he missed the second free throw with the scores at 93-92 in the final minute, the hosts' pressure defense fell apart and allowed a wide open layup by Ahmad Caver with 24 seconds left.
Dijon took the lead at 94-93, coach Zvezdan Mitrovic drew up a play for Prepelic again, but he missed his running shot and it was up to Giovan Oniangue to seal the deal from the free-throw line.
𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐓𝐇𝐀𝐓!? 🤯 Dijon trailed 𝟴𝟬-𝟱𝟱 on the road in Istanbul with just 13 mins to play and still pulled off a comeback to stun Galatasaray. 🔥 #BasketballCL pic.twitter.com/7nvpcDAaM5
— Basketball Champions League (@BasketballCL) January 30, 2024
"Only in basketball you can see this kind of situation, it's a win for the history of JDA . This thing doesn't happen every day, I am really proud of my players," coach Laurent Legname said after the remarkable win.
Dijon have tied the biggest comeback in eight seasons of the Basketball Champions League. Back in December 2022, AEK came back from -25 to defeat Pinar Karsiyaka at home, but that 25-point lead was in the second quarter.
Dijon are also the second team to come back from -20 or more on the road, following Limoges' Play-Ins comeback from -22 against MHP RIESEN Ludwigsburg in January 2023.