FIBA Basketball

    Win or go home: Besiktas Icrypex vs. Hapoel U-NET Holon preview

    Hapoel U-NET Holon and Besiktas Icrypex have gone to a deciding Game 3 on January 19 to determine who advances to the Round of 16, after each team won on the opponent's home court in the first two games.

    HOLON (Israel) - Hapoel U-NET Holon and Besiktas Icrypex have gone to a deciding Game 3 on January 19 to determine who advances to the Round of 16, after each team won on the opponent's home court in the first two games.

    The winner of this game will advance to the Round of 16 Group I alongside MHP Riesen Ludwigsburg, Galatasaray Nef and the Play-In winner of JDA Dijon and VEF Riga.

    Game 3: G2 Hapoel U-NET Holon vs. H3 Besiktas Icrypex (Series tied 1-1)

    Where: Holon, Israel

    When: 21:00

    Game 1: Besiktas won 73-72 on a game-winning shot by Isaiah Whitehead

     

    Game 2: Holon won 72-70 on a clutch three-pointer by Guy Pnini

    Holon have won three of their four home games this season in the BCL but their only home defeat came against Besiktas in the first game of this series. Besiktas have won two of their last three away games in the BCL, after losing eight of the previous 10 games on the road; they have won just one of their 10 games in the Playoffs/Play-Ins and it was the first game of this series. Besiktas have made on average 4.5 blocks per game in the BCL this season, only fellow Turkish club Pinar Karsiyaka (5.1) have made more; in fact, Besiktas have already made more blocks this season (36 in 8 games) than in any of their previous two campaigns in the BCL despite playing 16 games in those seasons (28 blocks in 2018-19 and 25 in 2019-20). Chris Johnson has scored 122 points this season in the BCL, which is fourth best, but the last time he failed to score 10+ points was during Holon's previous home game of this series (8 pts); he is averaging a plus/minus of +12.4 points per game, best average among the players with 6+ games played this season. Besiktas' Kenan Sipahi has scored more than 10 points in his three BCL games this season, as many times as in his first 42 games in the competition; he had the most assists or tied for the most assists for Besiktas in his three games this season, including in Game 2 of this series (6 ast). [/unordered]