By Eurohoops Team/ info@eurohoops.net
Fenerbahce Beko came back from a 16-point deficit to defeat Olympiacos Piraeus 82 – 78 on the road and tie the best-of-five EuroLeague playoff series 1-1.
The Turkish side is hosting the next two games in Istanbul.
The game was a bona fide thriller down the stretch. Johnathan Motley scored the go-ahead jumper for Fener to make it 76 – 77 with 1:31 to play. On the other end, Shaq McKissic won the foul but went 0 -2 from the line.
Fener missed back-to-back shots but renewed its offense twice with rebounds and Marko Guduric put his team up 76 – 78.
Sasha Vezenkov missed the triple and Tyler Dorsey found a transition opportunity to score for the 76 – 80 with seven seconds remaining. Guduric secured his team’s win with a pair from the line.
Carsen Edwards led his team’s comeback effort from down 26 – 10 early in the second period and helped his team approach 37 – 34 at halftime.
He finished with 16 points, while Nigel Hayes-Davis scored 15 (including crucial triples in the fourth period), grabbed six rebounds, and dished out five assists. Motley dropped 15 points.
It was a team effort, as Fenerbahce coach Dimitris Itoudis explained: “Each and everyone contributed. It was big that Carsen [Edwards] came in and give us huge minutes, and then Tyler [Dorsey] took it from there. Nick [Calathes] was the maestro in the beginning, [Marko] Guduric took it from there. Nigel [Hayes-Davis] and DP [Dyshawn Pierre] played huge minutes because of their size – they gave us a lot”.
Vezenkov and Kostas Sloukas scored 18 apiece for Olympiacos.
A tied series
Fenerbahce is still playing without Scottie Wilbekin and Devin Booker among others and with the series moving to Istanbul, Itoudis didn’t want to make too much of the road win: “We are happy we tied the series, but it is just tied. It’s a long process. We showed that we are not here accidentally. We are here because we want to fight; we are here because are a good team; we are here because we want to learn. We are in a process, we are a new team. I am new over there in a great environment. That is what I am keeping from [these games], that we are here to fight.”
After all, it was a really close game as Olympiacos coach Giorgos Bartzokas said: “The 2 missed free throws and 2 defensive rebounds we couldn’t get [at the end of the game proved key]. One bad decision for us, one good decision for Fenerbahce. It was a tight game, as we expected it to be. We have to analyze it now and be stronger in Istanbul.”
The point for Fenerbahce now is delivering on their homecourt, as Johnathan Motley explained: “You always want to protect your home court. Playing in an environment like this, they’ve got to come to our environment; we are definitely going to be more comfortable.”