Strong Performance Sees Dubai Basketball Claim Victory Over Beşiktaş in Pre-Season Friendlies

3 days ago

3 days ago

Strong Performance Sees Dubai Basketball Claim Victory Over Beşiktaş in Pre-Season Friendlies

2026-09-06T00:00-04:00

Dubai Basketball notched their first win of the season with a complete team performance to see off Beşiktaş 83-71 in Game 2 of pre-season friendlies in Turkey.

The starting five saw a few changes from Friday's game. Dubai fans had their first chance to see new signings Elie Okobo and Jaron Blossomgame in action, joining Prepelič and Bacon in the starting five along with a welcome return for ABA Finals MVP Mfiondu Kabengele.

Dubai laid the foundations with a strong opening quarter which they finished with an 18-14, highlighted by dunks from Blossomgame and Kabengele and a crafty reverse lay-up from Davion Mintz, finishing through contact for the "and one".

The intensity from both sides continued into the second quarter, Dubai opening up a 27-22 lead and the Black Eagles fighting back to 29-29 punctuated by a three from Jaylen Nowell. Coach Pascual's timeout had the desired effect, Dubai coming out of the huddle to go on a 15-5 run to end the half 44-34. In a first half full of physicality, both teams spent significant time at the line.

In the first half, Dubai's size advantage helped them to an 18-14 advantage on points in the paint. Beşiktaş were more set on looking for their outside shot, but they could only manage three three-point makes from fourteen attempts. Dubai made an efficient 9 of 11 free throws in the first half and though Beşiktaş made the same number, they did so on 17 attempts.

Once again, Dubai tested a different line-up to start the third, with Okobo and Bacon being joined by Mintz, Petrušev and Diakite. The physicality continued and although the Turkish side managed to reduce the lead to six, some nice play by Kosta Kondić and Filip Petrušev helped to open up a 57-42 lead. Some trademark low-post scoring from Toko Shengelia helped to give Dubai a 66-51 advantage heading into the fourth.

Despite Beşiktaş' shooters finding their range, Dubai maintained their focus and managed the clock in the fourth to see out the win. The convincing win was punctuated with a huge alley-oop dunk by Kabengele off the lob from Okobo, as well as a Bacon jam and another nice driving layup in traffic by Mintz.

Points in the paint (34-24) was again a winning factor for Dubai. The standout individual performances came from Mfiondu Kabengele (18 points on 7/8 shooting), Dwayne Bacon (11 points, 3 assists) and Davion Mintz (11 points, 4 rebounds).

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