By Stefan Djordjevic / sdjordjevic@eurohoops.net
Fenerbahce BEKO beat Olympiacos for the second time this season, this coming in Round 31 of Turkish Airlines EuroLeague with 76-71 on the scoreboard.
Fener’s focus was on creating mismatches with Dyshawn Pierre and Jan Vesely on the low post and it worked well as they scored 18 and 15 points respectively.
Vesely has been in basketball for a while and he doesn’t like how his team relaxed too much this time around: “I have been with Fenerbahce for a long time. I would say that I am an experienced player, so I am trying to help the team in any way. I am glad we won, but in the end, we did not play focused. We gave them a chance to come back. That can cost us in the upcoming games.”
Coach Igor Kokoskov shared the view, adding some pressure and fatigue as the reason Fener slipped up later on.
“The main thing is we won the game. We came here to win the game, that’s what we did, that’s the one thing we are going to remember about this game. Olympiacos is a very good team, with a lot of veterans. They played with nothing to lose; we played little bit tight. We came out aggressive, we came with focus, but when you have to do something in your life it is usually tough, it is very difficult. So we had that psychological pressure to win this game, and a little fatigue in the second half. I think we need to be smarter than that; we are a veteran team, too. Overall, we are happy that we won this game, and we move on. We have a tough schedule ahead of us, and we have to focus for the next one.”
On the opposing side, Livio Jean-Charles scored 16 and Sasha Vezenkov 15 points.
The Turkish team had a comfortable 43-27 lead at halftime and was up by as much as 17 points (70-53) in the fourth quarter after a few easy baskets off Oly’s turnovers.
The hosts didn’t give up and managed to spark a comeback, cutting the gap to just three points (74-71) down the stretch but it was far too late and Nando De Colo sealed the deal from the free-throw line.
With this win, Fenerbahce improved to a 19-12 record, the same as Bayern which holds the fifth spot, while Olympiacos got eliminated from the playoff race and stands at 14-17.
Photo Credit: Turkish Airlines EuroLeague