Pınar Karşıyaka defeated the Greek team AEK 91-88 in the first match of the season in the FIBA Champions League Group B. The fight at Mustafa Kemal Atatürk Karşıyaka Sports Hall was played without spectators due to the two-match penalty the green-red players received last season. McCollum with 29 points, Jaylon Brown and Delgado with 17 points each, and Kuzminskas with 13 points, brought the victory to Karşıyaka in the contested game. Pınar Karşıyaka will be the guest of Telekom Baskets Bonn in Germany on Wednesday, October 12 in the second match of the group.
The match started with mutual baskets. Kuzminskas from Karşıyaka and Fraizer from AEK supported their teams with 3-pointers in a row. The Greek team, which took the lead with the effective performances of Fraizer and Mitchell, finished the first period ahead 21-15. Even though AEK’s difference increased to 7 points at the beginning of the second period, the İzmir team, which melted the gap with McCollum’s intervention, brought the score to 30-30 with Kenan Sipahi’s three pointer with 5 minutes to go and then went ahead 33-30 with Kuzminskas’ three pointer. The contested period ended in a 42-42 draw with Delgado’s ball tipped in the last second. At the beginning of the third quarter, Pınar Karşıyaka took the lead by 10 points with McCollum’s great performance. Closing the gap, the Greek team took the lead again 65-64, 2 minutes before the end of the period. After Jaylon Brown’s three-pointer, the green-reds started the fourth quarter leading 69-65 with McCollum’s field goal. Karsiyaka, who found critical numbers with Jaylon Brown, Vitto Brown, Delgado and McCollum in the last period when AEK melted the difference, won the hall 91-88.