Galatasaray first team to reach Eurocup semifinals

Galatasaray Odebank became the first team to reach the 2016 Eurocup semifinals when they outlasted Bayern Munich 72-59 to win their two-game, total-points quarterfinals series at home on Tuesday.

Bayern had won the first game 99-89 one week earlier. Errick McCollum and Chuck Davis scored 15 and 14 points, respectively, including key free throws in the final minute to lift the winners. Davis' shots with 32 seconds left put Galatasaray ahead on aggregate for good and after excellent team defense to deny Bayern, McCollum extended the aggregate lead to 3 with 5 seconds remaining. Alex Renfroe collected 12 points, six rebounds and 5five assists for Bayern, but his 0-for-5 free throw shooting proved costly. Coach Ergin Ataman said: "The nationalistic cheers from the stands encouraged us to win" after the match.

Elsewhere, another Turkish team achieved a success. Fenerbahçe Grundig secured their qualification for the Final Four of the 2016 CEV DenizBank Volleyball Champions League-Women after taking two sets from their rematch with Russia's Dinamo Moscow in the Playoffs 6 of Europe's elite competition. As a result the Turks will be making their first Final Four appearance since they won gold back in 2012. Fenerbahçe also claimed silver in 2010 in Cannes, France, and bronze in 2011 when they hosted the Finals at Burhan Felek Volleyball Hall. Korean superstar Kim Yeon-Koung paced the Yellow Angels in the Russian capital with an imposing tally of 33 points.