By Eurohoops team / info@eurohoops.net
Fenerbahce snapped back from last round’s tough loss against Barcelona and prevailed over ASVEL Lyon-Villeurbanne with an 88-72 victory.
Vladimir Stimac was a key player for his team in this road victory – that pushed them to a 3-7 record – and finished the game with 21 points, eight boards and a PIR of 27 across 23 minutes of action.
“We are happy, and we hope to keep going like this”, said Stimac. “For sure it is hard sometimes when you are in a slump. But I hope with this game we go out and start a winning streak.”
The Turkish side stepped on the floor starving for a victory (having started the season with their worse record in the recent years) and proved so right from the first half, as they led the hosts 48-36 at halftime.
ASVEL strengthened its defense in the third period though couldn’t manage to trim the deficit to less than 11 points in the midpoint, with Fener leading 67-52 after three quarters.
Fenerbahce expanded its lead to 19 points at the beginning of the final period and escaped from Astroballe Arena with a much-needed win.
“We have to go on like this”
“We gave a good reaction. We played well from the first to the last second. It was very important to us. First, it was important for my players to see that we had quality. We have to go on like this”, said Fenerbahce coach Zeljko Obradovic following the game.
On the other hand, Zvezdan Mitrovic admitted that his team was outmatched: “Fenerbahce are really a great team, and we made too many mistakes to even be close to them tonight. That is the main reason. I am happy. I congratulated my guys. They really gave effort; you see that. But this is a different level. I’m really proud and really okay with my team, absolutely, and I expect more games like this. This is very realistic for us.”
ASVEL ends this week with back-to-back defeats at home and falls to a 5-5 record in the standings.
Photo: EuroLeague