The visitors shot the lights out from downtown to silence a raucous home crowd inside Belgrade Arena
Rampant Fenerbahce earns big road win at Crvena Zvezda, 91-96
Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul beat Crvena Zvezda Meridianbet Belgrade 91-96 on the road to record its third successive victory in the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague, improving to 13-7, while the Serbian team dropped to 12-9 after suffering its first defeat in five games.
The lethal Nigel Hayes-Davis paced the visitors with a game-high 27 points, with Tarik Biberovic and veteran Nicolo Melli adding 16 apiece, the latter sinking his opening four shots from downtown as Fenerbahce went on to nail 17 of 35 behind the arc.
Marko Guduric produced an effervescent performance against his former club as he pulled all the strings on offense for Fenerbahce, posting 11 points and 8 assists while committing a single turnover.
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At the other end, Codi Miller-McIntyre shined for Zvezda with a team-high 23 points and Isaiah Canaan chipped in with 17, of which 10 came in a third-quarter blitz when he bedazzled his markers with a pair of audacious floaters coupled with two long-range shots.
Filip Petrusev scored 12 points for Zvezda and Ognjen Dobric added 10, but the hosts were undone by poor defense which allowed the Turkish side a barrage of open looks as well as some easy points in the paint.
In addition, Fenerbahce took better care of the ball as it dished out 22 assists and managed 8 steals against only 6 turnovers, too much for while Zvezda’s tally of 16 assists, 11 turnovers and just 2 steals.
The hosts made a bright start and carved out a 24-21 lead at the end of the first quarter as they sank four of their opening five efforts from long range, but Fenerbahce turned the tide in the second as Melli and Biberovic found their range and buried Zvezda’s basket with an avalanche of three-pointers.
The visiting team hit 10-of-20 triples in the first half and took a 43-49 lead into the locker room at the interval. Fenerbahce carried on early in the third quarter right where they left off in the second, as Melli drained another one to give Fenerbahce a 45-55 advantage. Canaan then turned up the decibel level in the gym as he netted 10 points in a row for Zvezda, but Fenerbahce held firm and was still in cruise control, 61-70, ahead of the final 10 minutes of an absorbing contest.
Hayes-Davis, who gave his markers a roasting all night as he kept hitting shots from all over, hit top gear in the fourth to keep Fenerbahce in the driving seat as the Turkish team engineered an 80-92 lead in the home stretch. A late rally gave Zvezda a glimmer of hope as the hosts closed the gap to 91-94 in the final minute, but Guduric was ice cool from the foul line to make sure there was no last-gasp drama.