London Lions stun Besiktas in front of raucous crowd

BKT EuroCup

London Lions took down Besiktas Istanbul, 93-72, in EuroCup action at the Copper Box Arena on Wednesday evening.

With the win, the Lions (11-5) remained on course to clinch a top-two finish in Group A of the BKT EuroCup.

With Paris Basketball (15-1) assured of the top spot in the group, the Lions are tied with Hapoel Shlomo Tel Aviv (11-5) and ahead of fourth-placed Joventut Badalona (10-6) in a three-way battle to finish second, which earns direct qualification for the quarterfinals.

In front of a sold out Copper Box, with 2,500 Turkish fans in the building, the hosts delivered a convincing performance.

The Lions took over in the second quarter of the game starting with a 8-0 run, as their incredible defence fuelled their offence to take commanding 14 point lead at half-time. Leading by 18 heading into the fourth they staved off a late run by Besiktas to seal the win.

Matt Morgan led the Lions as he scored a game-high 20 points. Gabe Olaseni, recently named Basketball England’s Player of the Year, scored 12 points and collected six rebounds. Five London players scored in double digits.

A dominating win for @LondonLions #RoadToGreatness pic.twitter.com/p5JoYVGOMo

— BKT EuroCup (@EuroCup) January 24, 2024

The victory put the second place of the group within reach for London with two games left to play in the group stage.

https://twitter.com/EuroCup/status/1750270052530528740?t=Di400VZWOIt9nRXDyYrsdw&s=19

Matthew Mitchell led Besiktas with a team-high 16 points, while Kyle Allman added 11 points.

Up next, London Lions will face Olimpija Ljubljana in BKT EuroCup action on January 31st at 5.30 pm.

Box score. 

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