Turkish basketball teams in the Turkish Airlines Euroleague Top 16 have made a bad start by losing in the first round. While Galatasaray Liv Hospital was beaten 90-84 by Israel's Maccabi Electra in Istanbul, Anadolu Efes were vanquished 84-65 by Spanish giants Barcelona.
For Galatasaray Liv Hospital, the individual efforts of Carlos Arroyo and Zoran Erceg were not enough to win the game, whereas Maccabi Electra's Ricky Hickman- starring with 24 points- played a crucial role for the win. Both Alex Tyus and Devin Smith in the Israeli team dominated the painted area by grabbing 21 rebounds in total and making a double-double.
Meanwhile, Anadolu Efes was traumatized after losing 84-65 to Barcelona at Palau Blaugrana. Barcelona's Spanish point guard Juan Carlos Navarro was the key factor by scoring 21 points. He was red hot behind the three point line, scoring 5 three point shots behind the arc. Navarro was followed by American center Joey Dorsey who got 11 rebounds and scored 10 points. For Anadolu Efes, the efforts of Semih Erden, Kerem Gonlum and Dusko Savanovic could not prevent defeat.
Turkey's Fenerbahce Ulker will meet Greek Olympiacos, who are undefeated so far in Euroleague, in Pireaus on Friday in a match at Peace and Friendship Stadium which tips off at 21:30 local time in Turkey.
englishnews@aa.com.tr
