By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
Scottie Wilbekin scored 20 points, grabbed five rebounds, and dished out five assists as Fenerbahce Beko beat Valencia 79 – 77 at home to register its fourth win in four games of the EuroLeague regular season.
“I think it was good, especially in the second half, when we fought back,” Wilbekin said.
“We showed character. It was the first time we were tested this season. I think we all dug deep, made an extra effort, and got us back in the game. But I cannot stop thinking about the turnover, luckily Guduric stepped up and hit the free throw. Being in games like this, brings the team together, we found what we have inside us, and we had to fight to come back in a tough game against a good team. Hopefully, we can give more wins like this moving forward.”
Fener looked to have the victory all but secured after Marko Guduric made the triple for the 76 – 70 and then put his team up 78 – 72 with 14 seconds remaining. Yet Bojan Dubljevic pulled off a 3-point play and then Jonah Radebaugh immediately stole the ball on the inbounds pass to score the layup and give the game a new interest.
With the score 78 – 77 and three seconds remaining, Guduric was fouled and made 1-2 from the line. Valencia didn’t manage to find a good shot as Xabi Lopez-Arostegui made a “Hail Mary” from half-court that went out.
Nigel Hayes-Davis had 17 points, Johnathan Motley 16 points plus five rebounds while Guduric finished with 10 points for Fener that transformed a 34 – 43 halftime deficit into a 58 – 51 lead in the third quarter by putting on some solid defense and solid shooting problems of the first two periods. The Turkish side had 2-11 from the perimeter at the break but began the second half with 6-8 to move up in the score.
Valencia recovered and approached by a shooting distance but kept trailing and never managed to at least tie the score in the rest of the game. Chris Jones had 16 points plus seven rebounds, Bojan Dubljevic added 13 points and Sam Van Rossom scored 10.
“It was a tough game,” Valencia coach Alex Mumbru said. “We started well, with a great defense. I think we were at good level in the first and the second quarters. It’s true we knew Fenerbahce was going to step up in the third, and we had 5 turnovers in that period, so we got much more than we needed to be able to win here. The team didn’t give up though, and we competed until the last second.”
Changing behaviors
Fenerbahce coach Dimitris Itoudis saw his players flipping the defensive switch to “ON” after the break and that helped his team create some much needed offensive opportunities.
“We definitely had a defensive attitude in the second half. When we went out in front of our crowd, and it was amazing how this crowd was a part of this game, because they were a part of the game from the beginning. Congratulations to the players, they realized they played at home, and we got to bring something, we got to create something out and generate something from our defense. We started things from our defense, giving up just 34 points [in the second half]. The defense, and putting the fans into the equation, seeing the team fighting, going for loose balls, bringing back and removing the margin, keep shooting the ball, keep trusting,… We had open looks in the first half we didn’t make, but in the second, Nigel Hayes, for example, kept shooting, kept believing and you can see the result. He was not the only one, also Scottie [Wilbekin], Marko [Guduric]… They showed character. It was not our day in the beginning because Valencia played great, brave. I said it before the game; it was not a coincidence they beat Efes on the road. They have a pretty good team.”