By Eurohoops Team/ info@eurohoops.net
In an extremely tight affair, Fenerbahce Beko prevailed, 90-86, versus LDLC ASVEL Lyon-Villeurbanne at Astroballe on Friday.
Nando De Colo scored eight of his game-high 24 points in the fourth quarter, including a clutch triple securing a four-point lead for the visitors with 12 seconds remaining in the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague Regular Season Round 28 contest. His six assists, four rebounds, and two steals helped to generate the game-high 27 PIR.
“I’m really happy to be back in France, even if it’s just one game and I don’t have time to do too much,” he noted after the match, “But the most important thing is to go game by game, and tonight is another step up for us.”
The team coached by Igor Kokoskov jumped to an early 15-5 lead proving to be an exception in a balanced game with the opposing sides remaining within a couple of buckets the rest of the way.
“It was a team effort,” mentioned the Serbian boss, “They are a very difficult team to play. Very physical, strong. They were in the paint and making threes. That’s a tough combination, when they can get into the paint any time they want with post-ups and then on the perimeter they are shooting threes.”
Fener was able to hold off the threat from beyond the arc constantly present for the team coached by T.J. Parker. As a result, the Turkish powerhouse was mostly in control but failed to get in safe distance prior to the final seconds.
Marko Guduric and Dyshawn Pierre produced 13 points each, and Kyle O’Quinn ended up with 11 points. Melih Mahmutoglu and Alex Perez were among the players not traveling with the team through the two-game week, but Edgaras Ulanovas returned to action with 11 scoreless minutes.
“That’s a very physical team. They play really well at home. We knew that especially after playing a couple of days ago that we had to be focused tonight,” pointed out Pierre, “So we’re happy that we got the win. We really needed this to go forward in the playoffs race.”
On the opposite end, David Lighty registered a team-high 15 points. Ismael Bako combined his 14 points with a game-high five rebounds. Norris Cole added 14 more points despite being held to three in the first 20 minutes. Derrick Walton and Antoine Diot remained out.
“We play basketball to win, so there is frustration,” underlined head coach Parker, “As I explained to the players when you face big teams details are important. We allowed too many easy baskets for them. Even in the last play with De Colo, we didn’t top on the pick-and-roll and left the best player in the game a wide-open three.”
The Turkish club improved to 17-11 with its fifth straight victory on the road and its 12th in its last 13 EuroLeague games will be at Valencia next Friday after a domestic home tilt versus Turk Telekom on Sunday.
ASVEL forced down to 12-16 with its second loss in a row following a six-game winning streak will host ALBA Berlin next Thursday.