By Antonis Stroggylakis/ info@eurohoops.net
Fenerbahce Beko players at the bench needed blankets to warm themselves at the beginning of the Round 17 game against Olympiacos due to “Peace and Friendship” arena being a bit cold.
Their temperature saw a considerable increase, however, when they actually stepped on the floor.
Nando De Colo dropped 32 points as Fenerbahce sank 16 3-pointers en route to taking a 96-87 victory on the road over Olympiacos. The winning squad came one triple away from tying its all-time club record of 17.
The Turkish powerhouse overcame the absences of big men Jan Vesely, Joffrey Lauvergne and Ahmet Duverioglu and bounced back to wins following four losses in a row, most of them in a heartbreaking fashion and last-second plays. Olympiacos suffered its third straight loss in a match where team captain Vassilis Spanoulis became EuroLeague’s all-time scoring leader.
Spanoulis finished with 14 points and hit consecutive buckets to help turn the 66 – 84 deficit his team fell behind within the fourth period, to 82 – 90 with 90 seconds remaining. It was too late for Olympiacos since De Colo answered immediately to keep his team at a safe distance.
Datome and Sloukas making a difference
Fener was leading even by 19 points, when Gigi Datome (15 points) scored his team’s 12th 3-pointer in the match to make it 42 – 61 early in the second half. The visiting squad capped an offensive spree that began in the mid of the second quarter when De Colo poured 12 points in less than four minutes for his team to take a 40 – 52 halftime lead. The Reds reacted well enough to reduce the margin to four, 61 – 65, after consecutive defenses that led to transition buckets.
The response by Zeljko Obradovic‘s players was as quick as it was efficient and Datome beat the third-quarter buzzer with a difficult 3-pointer for the 61 – 74. Fener retained a double-digit advantage until late in the match.
Kostas Sloukas contributed 14 points and nine assists for Fener while Derrick Williams scored 13. “I think we controlled the game, playing against a good team on [its] home court. We scored crucial baskets and maintained control when they tried to come back”, Sloukas said.
Printezis added 14 points and six rebounds for Olympiacos. Nikola Milutinov posted 11 points plus seven boards. Olympiacos coach Kestutis Kemzura said “I have to take some responsibility, I didn’t do a good enough job preparing the players, demanding what we have to do. But on the other hand, they killed us from second-chance baskets; they scored six threes from second-chance points and it’s hard for me to take responsibility for this. I cannot box out”.
Photo Credit: Turkish Airlines EuroLeague