By Eurohoops Team/ info@eurohoops.net
Fenerbahce BEKO (6-1) did not allow any surprises in Istanbul against Crvena Zvezda Mts in round seven of the EuroLeague.
Nemanja Nedovic and Luca Vildoza showed a fighting spirit, but not enough to get a victory on the road. Fenerbahce is now back in the winning column (93-79) while Crvena Zvezda (1-6) still has only one victory so far this season.
Johnathan Motley was the man of the game. He dominated and got a double-double with 25 points and 10 rebounds. Melih Mahmutoglu had a career-high with 20 points. Marko Guduric added 17 points.
As Mahmutoglu said: “We knew before the game Crvena Zvezda is a good team and a dangerous team, especially from three-point range. Second half, we started playing tougher defense and after that everything for us was nice”.
Still, It looked like the game would be over in the first quarter. Fenerbahce was playing unstoppable in the opening minutes and the Belgrade team could do nothing on both sides of the court.
It took the Turkish team less than eight minutes to get to a double-digit lead. Marko Gudurić hit a big three (23-12) that forced Vladimir Jovanovic to call a time-out. Nemanja Nedovic and Ognjen Kuzmic entered the game at that moment and completely changed the energy of the team.
Nedovic was the main reason that Crvena Zvezda was on a big run in the second quarter, and at one point had a five-point lead, but Fenerbahce did not allow things to get out of control. Mahmutoglu and Guduric were hitting shots that kept the Belgrade team on their heels (42-41).
“We managed to come back to the game, but in the end, we ran out of energy and that was the key”, admitted Zvezda coach Vladimir Jovanovic.
Nedovic had a great second-half beginning, but the rest of Crvena Zvezda did not follow. The home side did not need much more than that to go on a crucial run that got the job done.
Johnathan Motley controlled the paint and gave Fenerbahce a seven-point lead to secure a victory.
As he said: “They have great scorers like Nedovic, Vildoza, and Bentil, we relaxed a little bit and they took advantage. We have to make sure we don’t do that because we might not be able to dig ourselves out. Once they get momentum and start making shots, it could be tough for us. Luckily, we changed it in the second half, got some stops, and came away with a win”.
The fourth quarter was all Fenerbahce. Guduric and Nick Calathes hit from beyond the arc holding off any attempt from Crvena Zvezda.
Nemanja Nedovic played a great game with 17 points, and Vildosa followed with 13 in Crvena Zvezda.