By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
What Unics Kazan accomplished in Istanbul against Fenerbahce was nothing less than amazing. The Turkish team hasn’t lost a home game in Euroleague in 655 (!) days yet was overpowered 83 – 71 by the resilience of Unics
To be exact, the last Euroleague match in Ulker Arena that didn’t see Fenerbahce leaving the court victorious was in January 2015 when Olympiacos had left Istanbul with a victory for the competition’s Top 16.
It was mainly through the exhilarating action of Keith Langford that Unics achieved such a roadkill, which is also its first Euroleague victory of the season. Not only did the American superscorer dropped 28 points, grabbed 10 rebounds and dished 4 assists but also sank what proved to be the game-winning baskets, more or less.
With the score 71 – 71, two minutes to go and everything up for grabs, Langford threw five consecutive points to make it 71 – 77 and put his team at a position of strength with 46 left on the game clock.
Fenerbahce couldn’t take advantage of the opportunities it had to avert what was coming and faced their first loss after a 4-0 start in the EL season. Bobby Dixon‘s 23 points (7/9 from downtown) weren’t enough for coach Obradovic‘s team that displayed ugly pick n’ roll defense and had a lack of diverse options in offense.
Apart from Langford, Artsiom Parakhouski did a stunning job thanks to 20 points and 12 rebounds while Quino Colom scored 9 points and dished 11 assists.