Morrison Leads Besiktas To Victory

Adam Morrison erupted for 26 points as Besiktas Milangaz won on the road

Adam Morrison poured in 26 points to keep Besiktas Milangaz hot on the heels of EuroChallenge Group K leaders Baloncesto Fuenlabrada with a 76-69 victory over BK Pardubice.

Besiktas successfully held off a rally from the hosts in the fourth quarter to secure an important road victory.

A lay-up from Ersin Dagli had Besiktas looking comfortable with a 66-55 lead 6:42 from time, but Marcus Arnold's put-back started a fightback from Pardubice that saw them close the gap to four, 66-62, when Maurice Hampton made two of three free throws 4:06 from the finish.

But Great Britain international Pops Mensah-Bonsu made a lay-up and David Hawkins hit a jump-shot to give Besiktas breathing space again.

A three-pointer from Jiri Cernosek had the gap back to five with 72 seconds left, and so it was again with 18 ticks left when Arnold made a lay-up.

But time was running out for the hosts, and Hawkins hit a pair of free throws in the final stages before Morrison's late lay-up sealed it.

Dagli had 14 points for Besiktas while Mensah-Bonsu's 12 points matched his 12 rebounds. Hawkins finished with 10 points.

Arnold poured in 27 points in a losing cause for Pardubice.

The win sees Besiktas improve to 3-1 in the group.

Thanks to the won tie-breaker over Pardubice, Besiktas, together with Fuenlabrada are also already qualified to the Quarter-Finals.

Quotes BK JIP PARDUBICE vs. BESIKTAS MILANGAZ

Jan Slowiak, head coach BK JIP Pardubice
"First I want to congratulate Besiktas. We brought lots of effort to win the game but we were not able to stop Morrison. He scored many times from tough positions. But he scored. In the end of the game Besiktas showed more experience in tough games. Also our percentage from the three-point line was limiting for us today. We missed too many shots from outside."

Marcus Arnold, player BK JIP Pardubice
"We fought hard. But Besiktas had a good game today. Morrison had a good game. Also their big guys played terrific. We did a good job staying in the game. But it was not enough to win. Congratulations to the other team."

Ergin Ataman, head coach of Besiktas Milangaz
"I think it was not an offensive game. Both teams had a lot of missed shots - especially from outside. I would mention two important players in this game. Morrison from our team - he had a great game in offense. And from Pardubice Arnold had a good game as well - to have 27 points against our bigs, that is a very good number. Also the others had 17 offensive rebounds. This was our mistake and their hustle. We had some problems with injuries. Arroyo did not come and other players were not practicing so we had a bad first half of this game. But in the second half we played smarter. We improved our defense in the fourth quarter. We gave them only 16 points in this period. And we took a very important victory because now we have two home court games and if we win these we are going to finish the group in first place with a 99 percent chance."

Adam Morrison, player of Besiktas Milangaz
"I think coach said it best. We were kind of a stagnant in the first half. I think in the second half we did a better job of sharing the basketball and everybody got involved and we won."