By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
Not only did AS Monaco beat Fenerbahce Beko at home to register its eighth win over the last 10 games in EuroLeague but also got the tiebreaking advantage that could become crucial in the battle for the playoffs.
Alpha Diallo scored a career-high 24 points as Monaco defeated Fenerbahce 92 – 78 at home to overcome the 10-point deficit of their first-leg loss at Istanbul. Sasa Obradovic’s team is now 14-13 and seventh in the standings.
Fener, on the other hand, dropped to 12-11 and the 10th spot. While Nando De Colo returned with a team-high 19 points for the Turkish side after almost two months, his squad was simply unable to even match the hosts’ highly efficient offense, especially in the first half.
Monaco made a 16-0 run in the second period to close halftime up 55 – 33 and then led even by 28 points, 61 – 33 early in the third quarter. Fener, that was minus playmaker Pierria Henry, managed to reduce its deficit below 20 in the final period but couldn’t make a full comeback.
The last minutes were essentially a battle for the final margin. Fener approached 90 – 74 with 2:08 to play but threw away some opportunities to get the difference below 10. Mike James, who was unusually off with 10 points on 1-10 shots, made two free throws with seven seconds to play to secure the tiebreaking lead for his team.
Donatas Motiejunas posted 18 points and nine rebounds for Monaco. He didn’t want to talk about anything regarding the match during his post-game flash interview while calling for peace in Ukraine.
Will Thomas added 14 points for Monaco, scoring 11 of them in the first half. Marko Guduric contributed 18 points for Fener, Dyshawn Pierre had 10 points plus six rebounds and Danilo Barthel scored 10 in his first EuroLeague game since October.