Fenerbahçe Doğuş defeated TOFAS 86-78 Thursday evening in the Turkish basketball league playoff finals to take a 2-0 lead in the series. Despite being blown out by 40 points in the first game, TOFAŞ came to Fenerbahçe's home court at the Ülker Sports and Events Hall with resilience. The away team jumped out on an early 10-2 lead, but Fenerbahçe led the first quarter 19-17. The second quarter was also close as the Istanbul club led by only one point at 37-36. Fenerbahçe used center Jan Vesely's scoring to go up by 12 after the third quarter at 63-51. In the fourth quarter, despite TOFAŞ managing to erase the deficit to only 4 points, Fenerbahçe held on to win.
Fenerbahçe forced 19 TOFAŞ turnovers. 26 personal fouls committed by TOFAŞ helped opponents get some easy free throw opportunities. American guard Brad Wanamaker scored 18 points to lead the charge for the winners and the other American import guard James Nunnally chipped in 16 points during the contest. American Tony Crocker responded with 16 points and 4 assists and swingman Sammy Mejia scored 16 points and 5 rebounds. Both teams had four players each who scored in double figures. Both coaches used bench players which allowed the starters a little rest for the next games.
The third match of the series will be played on June 9 at TOFAS Sports Hall in Bursa.
