The Turkish team made it five straight wins with a dominant home display
Fenerbahce stands strong to down Olympiacos, 77-87
Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul kept on rolling by toppling league leader Olympiacos Piraeus 77-87 on the road. The Turkish team has now won five in a row to improve to 15-7, just one win behind Olympiacos at 16-8.
Olympiacos edged the early exchanges, but Fenerbahce fought back to lead 40-43 at halftime and kept control throughout the second half. Marko Guduric led the way with 21 points, and Nigel Hayes-Davis netted 14. Errick McCollum with 12, Sertac Sanli (11) and Tarik Biberovic (11) also scored in double digits. Evan Fournier with 21 points and Sasha Vezenkov with 19 were not enough for well-beaten Olympiacos.
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Vezenkov opened the scoring with a deep ball, but Hayes-Davis hit back from mid-range. Nigel Williams-Goss’s three-point play was followed by triples from Sanli and Fournier, before Hayes-Davis scored again to make it 13-7. Biberovic’s three-ball was followed by Nicolo Melli’s close-range finish, but Fournier’s layup-and-one kept Olympiacos ahead, 17-12. Melli’s dunk was cancelled out by Vezenkov in the low post, before McCollum’s triple and Vezenkov’s jumper made it 21-17 after ten minutes.
McCollum started the second quarter with a layup, and Biberovic tied it up with a three-point play, 22-22. Moustapha Fall forced the Reds back ahead, and 4 fast points from Vezenkov stretched the lead. Guduric rescued Fener with a triple and a floater, before Khem Birch’s layup and Biberovic’s three-ball gave the visitor its first lead, 30-32. Fall’s put-back was bettered by deep strikes from Gurudic and Arturs Zagars, making it 33-41. Free throws and Fournier’s three-pointer narrowed the gap, before Devon Hall’s buzzer-beating tip-in made it 40-43 at the half.
Guduric’s layup gave Fener a fast start to the second half, before Hayes-Davis struck from deep and Hall added a driving layup for a 43-50 edge. Sanli’s mid-range strike kept the visitors moving, but Kostas Papanikolaou responded with a big corner three. Hall’s jumper and Sanli’s three-pointer made it 48-57, but Fournier kept pushing the Reds with a three-point play. Guduric, McCollum and Hayes-Davis pushed Fener further ahead despite another Fournier deep shot, and it was 59-69 with 10 minutes left.
A slow start to the final quarter was followed by Nikola Milutinov’s layup, before Sanli’s three-point play protected the visitor’s advantage. Vildoza’s three-pointer lifted the host, but Guduric’s driving layup made it 67-74. Biberovic gave Fener a double-digit lead, 67-78, with a transition dunk, and Hayes-Davis struck a three-ball to cement the advantage. Olympiacos kept fighting with 4 straight points from Vezenkov, but Guduric’s jumper in the last minute sealed the deal.