Istanbul-based basketball heavyweights Fenerbahce Beko were beaten by Russian giants CSKA Moscow 70-68 late Thursday in a Turkish Airlines EuroLeague regular season match.
Fenerbahce Beko's Serbian small forward Nikola Kalinic scored 17 points against the Russian side and was the top scorer of the showdown in Moscow. Kalinic also took seven rebounds and produced four assists.
Fenerbahce Beko's U.S.-born Turkish point guard Ali Muhammed, also known as Bobby Dixon, racked up 15 points.
CSKA Moscow seized the victory thanks to individual performances by their two U.S. stars, Will Clyburn and Cory Higgins, in the offense.
Clyburn produced 16 points and Higgins scored 15 points. Clyburn also had eight rebounds.
Clyburn was also selected as the player of the game.
Fenerbahce Beko and CSKA Moscow have already qualified for the playoffs, but they are competing against each other to lead the EuroLeague regular season.
Fenerbahce Beko are now leading the EuroLeague with 23 wins and 5 losses.
CSKA Moscow are currently in second spot as the Russian side won 22 games and lost six others.
In addition to the two teams, Real Madrid, Istanbul’s Anadolu Efes and Barcelona Lassa have also secured playoff spots.
Sixteen teams are competing in the league -- four Spanish, three Turkish, two Russian and two Greek teams and one team each from Germany, Italy, Israel, Lithuania and Montenegro.
Turkey is represented by Anadolu Efes, Fenerbahce Beko and Darussafaka Tekfen.
The regular season is being played from Oct. 11, 2018 to April 5, 2019, with the top eight advancing to the playoffs set for April 16-30.
Winners will advance to the Final Four on May 17-19 at Fernando Buesa Arena in the Spanish city of Vitoria-Gasteiz in single-elimination matchups.
