By Eurohoops team / info@eurohoops.net
Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul is getting back on track in EuroLeague and prevailed over tough ALBA in Berlin with a 74-70 victory for Round 22. The Turkish side moves up to a 12-10 record, while the German club falls to 7-15.
Kostas Sloukas played a key role for the winning side, posting 16 points, five assists, and five rebounds.
Sloukas also reached 2,000 career points in the EuroLeague and he admitted: “As a guy who has played basketball since he was 8 years old to achieve something like that, I am very proud [of reaching 2,000 career points]. I worked very hard for that, but I will continue to work harder because this is a motivation for me to work harder”
However, his backup Leo Westermann turned out to be the X-factor of the game in the final period, posting 11 points and five rebounds.
On the other side of the court, Rokas Giedraitis finished the game with 14 points and four rebounds, as ALBA lost the chance to bounce back on winning track.
Fenerbahce pushes for a comeback, Westermann seals the victory
Giedraitis led the home team’s effort in the first half, scoring 12 of his points in the first half to lead ALBA to a 41-33 advantage at halftime. Fenerbahce showed a pulse in the third period, trimming the deficit to six points after 30 minutes (56-50), and kept up its pace in the fourth.
Sloukas signaled Fenerbahce’s return as Nikola Kalinic made it a one-point game at 35′ (63-62), while Leo Westermann put the Turkish side ahead 65-63 with less than four minutes to go. The French guard stepped up big time in the final minutes, leading his team to victory in the end.
Coach Zeljko Obradovic gave credits to ALBA while commenting on his team’s comeback, in his post-game quotes.
“The character we showed late] is for sure a positive saying, but I will go back to things that happened In the first half. We need to change this. We need to understand that we have enough quality to play much better basketball, like the way we played the last 10 minutes of the game”, Obradovic mentioned.
Photo: EuroLeague