Fenerbahce Istanbul retains Turkish crown

Fenerbahce Istanbul has defended its Turkish Basketball League title and capped a glittering season for the club. A tight and exciting 94-98 overtime victory over Besiktas in Game 4 handed Fenerbahce a 3-1 series win. The result means the club has now won two consecutive titles and 9 overall.

Victory also means Fenerbahce Istanbul wraps the most successful season in its history, confirming a league and EuroLeague double. The club defeated Olympiacos Piraeus last month in the Final Four in Istanbul.

The title was ultimately won in the most dramatic of fashion. Fenerbahce was away from home but made the early moves with a 19-24 first quarter. The hosts responded and settled into a scoring rhythm during the second frame. It allowed Besiktas to drop 28 points in the quarter, while Fener added 18 points. Through the long break, the home team led 47-42.

In the third act, the teams came out from the locker room and played to a draw, a 17-17 run leaving it at 64-69. With the championship on the line, Fenerbahce scored 25 points to tie the contest at 84-84 through regulation time. The momentum was with the defending champs and they edged a nervy overtime period to win the championship.

Jan Vesely added a double-double of 26 points and 11 rebounds in the win, while Bodgan Bogdanovic added 23 points and 9 assists. Bobby Dixon was good for 14 points, while Ekpe Udoh added 12 points.

Kenan Sipahi topped the losing effort with 22 points, followed by DJ Strawberry with 20 points and Michael Roll with 15 points.