2018-19Regular SeasonRound 16
Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul 96
KIROLBET Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz 87
January 04, 2019 CET: 18:45
Local time: 20:45 ULKER SPORTS AND EVENT HALL

Fenerbahce beats Baskonia, gets 12th straight win

In a great back-and-forth battle, Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul recorded its 12th consecutive victory by downing KIROLBET Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz 96-87 at Ulker Sports Arena on Friday. Fenerbahce leads the standings with a 15-1 record and Baskonia dropped to 7-9, still one win removed from playoffs territory. Nicolo Melli led the winners with 19 points. Jan Vesely added 15, Marko Guduric had 14 while Luigi Datome and Kostas Sloukas each got 13 for Fenerbahce. Shavon Shields led Baskonia with 22 points. Vincent Poirier added 15, Darrun Hilliard and Luca Vildoza each had 11 and Matt Janning got 10 for the guests. Fenerbahce led 48-41 at halftime and boosted its margin to 69-48 early in the second half. Baskonia managed to get within 82-81 midway through the fourth quarter but Guduric and Vesely made Fenerbahce prevail.

Datome got Fenerbahce going with a triple and a jumper and Ali Muhammed downed a five-meter shot. Shields buried a couple of jumpers and Janning struck twice from downtown to give Baskonia its first lead, 11-12. Shields scored down low but Muhammed did better with a three-pointer before a fall-away jumper by Vesely restored a 17-16 Fenerbahce lead. Johannes Voigtmann dunked before a jumper by Ilimane Diop tied it at 20-20. Erick Green and Sloukas stepped up for the hosts but Diop and Shields kept Baskonia within 27-25 after 10 minutes. Consecutive layups by Ahmet Duverioglu and Nikola Kalinic made it 31-25 early in the second quarter. Shields rescued Baskonia with a triple and a dunk, but Duverioglu, Joffrey Lauvergne and Kalinic kept the hosts in charge, 38-32. Vildoza and Poirier answered for Baskonia and a fastbreak layup by Marcelinho Huertas made the hosts call timeout at 43-39. Melli followed a triple with a wild buzzer-beating put-back slam for a 48-41 Fenerbahce lead at the break. A jumper by Datome and a layup by Melli made it a double-digit game, 52-41, soon after halftime. Janning hit a triple and Shields added an alley-oop dunk, but Guduric, who had been scoreless until then, hit 3 triples in 1 minute to break the game open, 61-46. Datome and Sloukas joined the three-point shootout and a big dunk by Vesely made it a 21-point game, 69-48. Three-pointers by Vildoza, Voigtmann and Darrun Hilliard allowed Baskonia to get plenty of hope, 75-65, after 30 minutes. Shields followed a put-back basket with a dunk early in the fourth quarter and soon split free throws for a 75-70 score. Sloukas downed a triple but Poirier dunked, Hilliard added a driving layup and a put-back basket by Vildoza got Baskonia even closer, 78-76. A tip-in by Poirier to make it a one-point game, 82-81. Datome struck from downtown, Vesely added free throws and Guduric followed foul shots with a critical triple that sealed the outcome, 92-84, in the next-to-last minute.

Pivotal performer

Guduric had all of his 14 points in the second half, burying 4 of 6 three-point shots. Three of them came in just 60 seconds to help Fenerbahce get a big difference, and the final one came in crunch time to make the hosts celebrate another win.

Game-changing moment

Baskonia managed to get within 85-83 with 4 minutes left but Guduric had 5 points in a 9-1 run that sealed the outcome down the stretch, 94-84. As always, Fenerbahce delivered in crunch time.

Stellar stat

Three-point shots made the difference in this game. Baskonia shot well, hitting 8-of-20 attempts from downtown (40%) but Fenerbahce was outstanding. The hosts downed 15-of-26 shots from beyond the arc (57.7%). By hitting 12 three-pointers, Fenerbahce ties its season-high. It also hit 15 against Buducnost VOLI Podgorica.

Did you notice?

Fenerbahce needs one more win to match the longest winning streak in the EuroLeague under the new format. Real Madrid won 13 consecutive EuroLeague games since Game 2 of last season's playoffs until Round 8 of the regular season this season. However, Fenerbahce already has the longest in-season winning streak since the format change.

Next game:

Both teams return to Turkish Airlines EuroLeague action on Tuesday in Round 17. Fenerbahce visits Khimki Moscow Region and Baskonia travels to Greece to face Olympiacos Piraeus.

Nikolo Melli - Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul - EB18
Friday, January 4, 2019
Euroleague.net
Referees: LAMONICA, LUIGI; RYZHYK, BORYS; VILIUS, GYTIS
Attendance: 11030
By Quarter1234
Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul27212721
KIROLBET Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz25162422
End of Quarter1234
Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul27487596
KIROLBET Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz25416587
Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul
  Rebounds Blocks Fouls
# Player Min Pts 2FG 3FG FT O D T As St To Fv Ag Cm Rv PIR
1 GREEN, ERICK 12:25 2 1/2 0/1         1             1
4 MELLI, NICOLO 28:52 19 4/4 3/4 2/2 2 2 4 1 1 2     5 3 20
10 MAHMUTOGLU, MELIH DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
12 KALINIC, NIKOLA 22:18 5 1/2 1/2     2 2 3 1 2   1 1 4 9
16 SLOUKAS, KOSTAS 26:26 13 2/2 3/3     1 1 6           2 22
23 GUDURIC, MARKO 25:34 14   4/6 2/2 1 3 4 1 1 2     3 2 15
24 VESELY, JAN 29:57 15 4/6   7/8 2 1 3 2 4 2     2 5 22
32 GULER, SINAN DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
35 MUHAMMED, ALI 13:34 6 1/1 1/2 1/2   2 2 1         3 2 6
44 DUVERIOGLU, AHMET 10:03 6 3/6   0/2 1   1 1 1     2   1 3
70 DATOME, LUIGI 20:20 13 2/6 3/7     1 1 2 1     1 2 2 8
77 LAUVERGNE, JOFFREY 10:31 3 1/6 0/1 1/2 1 1 2 4           1 3
Team           2   2               2
Totals 200:00 96 19/35 15/26 13/18 9 13 22 22 9 8 0 4 16 22 111
        54.3% 57.7% 72.2%
Head coach: OBRADOVIC, ZELJKO
Min: Minutes played; Pts: Points; 2FG M-A: 2-point Field Goals (Made-Attempted); 3FG M-A: 3-point Field Goals (Made-Attempted); FT M-A: Free Throws (Made-Attempted); Rebounds: O (Offensive), D (Defensive), T (Total); As: Assists; St: Steals; To: Turnovers; Bl: Blocks (Fv: In Favor / Ag: Against); Fouls: Cm (Commited), Rv (Received); PIR: Performance Index Rating
KIROLBET Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz
  Rebounds Blocks Fouls
# Player Min Pts 2FG 3FG FT O D T As St To Fv Ag Cm Rv PIR
1 PENAVA, AJDIN DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
3 VILDOZA, LUCA 23:05 11 2/4 1/3 4/4 1 3 4 5         2 2 16
5 GONZALEZ, MIGUEL 0:19                              
7 VOIGTMANN, JOHANNES 36:15 7 2/2 1/2   2 11 13 5   4 1   1 2 22
9 HUERTAS, MARCELINHO 18:02 6 1/2 0/1 4/4       6   3     2 3 8
11 JANNING, MATT 29:27 10 0/1 3/8 1/2   1 1 2 2 1     2 2 7
12 DIOP, ILIMANE 13:37 5 2/2   1/1       1 1 2 1   4 1 3
17 POIRIER, VINCENT 26:23 15 6/9   3/4 4 2 6   1   2   5 2 17
31 SHIELDS, SHAVON 31:33 22 9/13 1/1 1/2 3 2 5   1 1     2 2 22
32 HILLIARD, DARRUN 21:19 11 1/1 2/5 3/3       1   2     4 2 5
47 KURUCS, ARTURS DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Team           1 1 2     1         1
Totals 200:00 87 23/34 8/20 17/20 11 20 31 20 5 14 4 0 22 16 101
        67.6% 40% 85%
Head coach: PERASOVIC, VELIMIR

Head Coaches

OBRADOVIC, ZELJKO
Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul

"It was the first game of the second round in the EuroLeague. We need to start from zero and forget what happened in the first round of games and get ready for the next game. We have experience playing against Baskonia because we also played in the playoffs against them last year. We know that this team always fights from the beginning until the end, and this is exactly what they did today. I believe that we played a good game. In the first quarter, we had a little bit of a lazy defense, but we changed and except for some minutes in the second half, I am very satisfied with the way that we played. Congratulations to the players and, of course, to our people for one more excellent atmosphere."

"I am very happy with the way we played. In one period, they came back because they are a team that always tries to fight, and they fought until the end. But generally, we played a very good game. Every game is something that can help you for the future."

PERASOVIC, VELIMIR
KIROLBET Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz
"I think that if we had played against another team today, we would have won for sure, but Fenerbahce played another great game tonight, especially on offense, with great shooting percentages. It was very difficult to win without better defense. I think we were stable in rebounds and also had 20 assists today, which is not easy, but their three-point shooting percentage decided the game. We are looking for a new player, but it is not easy to sign in this moment of the season. If we find someone (to step in for Shengelia), we will sign him, for sure."

Players

MELLI, NICOLO
Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul
"The important thing is that we won. I am happy when I can help the team a little bit more, but the important thing is that the team wins. This cannot happen (losing focus in the fourth quarter). We were up by 20 and the game was closed, we just had to keep going. We didn't do it, let them come back and in the end, it was a tied game. This cannot happen. It is a long season, so whenever we have the chance to have easy ends, we have to catch it. We have to improve. It is still a long way and we have to learn from our mistakes."
VESELY, JAN
Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul
"I feel good. I am happy for the win, but the performance that we had at the end of the third and the beginning of the fourth quarter, it cannot happen. We were up by 16 points and it became almost a tied game. We need to be careful and play concentrated for 40 minutes, but a win is a win. We have to keep working. Next week will be tough and we have to get ready for it. We concentrated again and played our game. Before that, we weren't doing it, and that was the problem."
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