The Tribune

By RENALDO DORSETT

Tribune Sports Reporter

rdorsett@tribunemedia.net

BOTH Zane Knowles and Dwight Coleby are currently enjoying win streaks for their respective clubs in the Turkish Basketball First League with just a few weeks remaining in the regular season.

Knowles finished with 19 points and 14 rebounds for Balikesir Buyuksehir Belediyespor in their 76-67 win over Final Spor on February 19. It was the third consecutive win for the club as they improved to 12.7 on the season, just one half game out of first place in the standings.

Balikesir’s next game will be February 27 against 2-17 Istanbul. The club’s current streak began with a 103-75 win over Ankara Basket where Knowles added 13 points and seven rebounds in just 17 minutes off the bench. He was back in the starting lineup for an 84-75 win over Samsun when he added 17 points and five rebounds.

Through 18 games, Knowles has averaged 15.6 points and 8.1 rebounds per game while shooting 65 percent from the field.

Coleby and Merkezefendi Belediyesi Denizl improved to 11-8 and the No.6 seed in the standings with their fourth consecutive win, 92-85 over Yalova on February 20.

He finished with eight points off the bench.

Coleby has averaged 12.5 points and 10.9 rebounds per game in 19 games.

The team’s current steak began with a 77-63 win over Amak when Coleby posted 20 points and a season high 19 rebounds. He followed with seven points and six rebounds in a 75-47 win over Gemlik and another double double, 13 points and 10 rebounds in an 87-69 win over Sigortam.net.

Their next game will be February 28 against Ankara Basket (6-11).

The TBL is the second tiered league in the country. The league features 16 teams and the first place finisher is promoted to the top tier Turkish Basketball Super League. Teams ranked 2nd place to 9th place, compete in playoff format and the winner of the playoff also promotes.

The last two teams are relegated to the third tier Turkish Basketball Second League. Just two games separate the No.1 seed Akhisar (12-6) and No.9 seed Mamak (10-9) in the standings.