Galatasaray became the first team to reach the Eurocup semi-finals after outlasting Bayern Munich 72-59 on the night in Istanbul, and winning the tie 161-158 on aggregate.

After losing the first leg 99-89 in Munich, Galatasaray knew that there was no room for any kind of error in the early going and they took the game to Bayern, leading 23-14 after the first quarter and narrowing the gap over two legs to just a field goal.

But despite seeing their lead shrink considerably, Bayern held on to their slender aggregate lead for a chunk of the second before a basket by Stephane Lasme tied the scores overall and gave the Turkish side a 29-19 cushion on the night.

Galatasaray were rampant, punishing countless Bayern errors and turning them into points. And by the half-time break, they had turned the game completely on its head, leading 43-25 on the night and by eight points on aggregate.

Bayern though were not prepared to go down without a fight and staged a comeback in the third quarter. Buckets by Deon Thompson pulled the deficit back to ten points, which levelled the scores overall and after missed foul shots by Alex Renfoe, Thompson eventually completed the comeback with another basket.

In the end though, Galatasaray relied on free throws to clinch their semi-final spot as Chuck Davis gave the hosts the lead on aggregate with 32 seconds left and after a failed attempt to snatch the lead back overall, Errick McCollum, who led the winners with 15 points, had the last say with five ticks left by sinking a pair of free throws to seal Galatasaray’s spot in the last four.