By Eurohoops team / info@eurohoops.net
Jordan Loyd scored 11 out of his 15 points in the final period, including the triple that all but iced the win, and AS Monaco beat Fenerbahce 93 – 88 to tie the EuroLeague playoffs at 1-1. The series now moves to Istanbul where Fenerbahce will host Games 3 and 4.
After Alpha Diallo made the go-ahead layup to put Monaco up 87 – 85, Loyd hit 3-4 from the line to extend the margin to five with 39 seconds to play. Scottie Wilbekin drained a triple but then Loyd responded in the same currency to secure the victory that set things square between the teams.
“I got this far believing in myself and staying confident. That’s why I’m here,” Loyd said on his big shot in crunch time. “But it’s just one win. You don’t want to get too high on it. Let’s look forward to Game 3.”
“I feel we’ve been playing actually pretty decent basketball in these first two games,” he commented on the series so far. “But we always find ourselves in a tough spot with them. Amazing win but just one win. We got to clean up a lot of things.”
Donatas Motiejunas dropped a team-high 18 points for Monaco that was trailing 67 – 54 at the beginning of the fourth period after Fenerbahce made a turnaround from an early 27 – 11 deficit. Tyler Dorsey led the Turkish side with 25 points while Scottie Wilbekin delivered 23 points.
“Fenerbahce came out with great confidence. You could see the way they scored sometimes unbelievable shots,” Monaco coach Sasa Obradovic said. “This is the game of character. We showed it in the end in the best possible way. We found the best shots so I’m very happy for this win.”
We didn’t start well, “Fener coach Sarunas Jasikevicius said. “We managed to break the game. Then we missed a lot of easy shots that could’ve sealed the deal. Monaco also missed shots. At the end it was nobody’s game and as always in these big games, we talk about details. One rebound, one foul, not being in the correct place. These are two expensive. Congratulations to Monaco.”