By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
Fenerbahce beat fellow Turkish side Darussafaka 100 – 79 to capture its fourth win in a row and seventh overall in the EuroLeague regular season after eight rounds.
The winning squad put on a well-balanced performance for the majority of the game against which Dacka proved to be no match. Fener had a dynamic first quarter which it closed up 25 – 10 and their opponents only managed to reduced that deficit at single digits, 46- 37 at halftime.
Dacka became a bit more threatening in the third period when Zanis Peiners scored to cut the margin to five, 50 – 45. But that was the closest his team got since Fener pulled away once more and fired up its engines to get an 18-point lead, 74 – 56 at the beginning of the fourth period. The hosts casually preserved this advantage and even increased to 20+ numbers down the stretch.
“It was very important for everybody to play because this week we have a very tough schedule; tomorrow we go to Tel Aviv and on Saturday we have an important game [in the Turkish league] against Tofas. Some things were very good, some things were not so good. But a good thing is how we reacted in the second half”, said winning coach Zeljko Obradovic after the game.
Melih Mahmutoglu had a season-high 16 points while Bobby Dixon dropped 15 points for Fener. Marko Guduric added 13 points (via perfect shooting, 6/6 from the field) plus four assists. Jan Vesely and Joffrey Lauvergne also scored 13 apiece, the latter also adding seven boards.
Micheal Eric (17 points, five rebounds) and Ray McCallum (16 points, seven assists) stood out for Dacka that is now 1-7.