2020-21Regular SeasonRound 16
Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul 84
Olympiacos Piraeus 77
December 23, 2020 CET: 18:45
Local time: 20:45 ULKER SPORTS AND EVENT HALL

Vesely fires Fenerbahce to win over Olympiacos

Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul survived a late scare to claim a nervy and much-needed 84-77 victory over Olympiacos Piraeus on Wednesday night. A fast-paced and closely contested first half saw the lead regularly swap hands as Fenerbahce clung to a 45-41 lead at the break. The hosts stretched that to 13 points in the third quarter but Sasha Vezenkov hit a flurry of three-pointers for Olympiacos to come back within 75-74 with 2 minutes left. Jan Vesely produced some big late plays to seal the deal, capping a fine performance of 17 points, 5 assists and 4 rebounds. Nando De Colo also did a bit of everything with 10 points, 8 rebounds and 5 assists. Dyshawn Pierre scored 14, Melih Mahmutoglu 12 and Danilo Barthel 11 in victory. Vezenkov made 5-of-7 triples among his 17 points, with Livio Jean-Charles (12), Aaron Harrison (11) and Vassilis Spanoulis (11) also in double figures for Olympiacos. Fenerbahce halted a three-game losing run to improve to 6-10, while Olympiacos dropped to 7-8.

Jean-Charles and Vesely traded early blows inside before the visitors raced ahead 2-8 on long-range strikes from Harrison and Kostas Papanikolaou. Vesely, Marko Guduric and De Colo scored before Barthel completed a 9-0 run to an 11-8 Fenerbahce lead with a layup. Harrison and Jean-Charles hit back from deep, but Mahmutoglu banked in a triple to force a 16-16 tie. Jean-Charles, Papanikoalou and Kostas Sloukas all buried three-balls as Olympiacos took a 22-27 lead after one quarter despite big dunks from Barthel and Edgaras Ulanovas. Sloukas fed Hassan Martin for an alley-oop layup to stretch the lead, but Mahmutoglu and Jarrell Eddie hit triples and Lorenzo Brown capped an 8-0 run from mid-range for as Fenerbahce regained a 30-29 lead. Spanoulis kept Olympiacos red-hot from long range but Eddie and Brown scored inside before Vesely dunked at 36-34. Guduric, Vesely and Pierre filled a new Fenerbahce surge, but Vezenkov hit with a triple and Octavius Ellis dunked for a 45-41 halftime score. De Colo's free throws and Vesely's towering tip-in saw the lead grow to 50-41 after the break. Jean-Charles netted the visitors' first points of the second half and Harrison added a triple. Barthel scored inside before Brown's deep strike and Vesely's dunk opened a big 59-46 gap in the score. Martin's three-point play and Shaq McKissic's fastbreak finish reignited Olympiacos, but Ahmet Duverioglu and Pierre restored the double-digit lead, 66-54 after three quarters. Mahmutoglu opened the fourth quarter scoring under the basket before triples from Vezenkov and Spanoulis gave the Reds fresh hope. Barthel's layup-and-one calmed Fenerbahce, but 5 fast points from Vezenkov kept Olympiacos in contention, 73-68 with 4 minutes remaining. Vezenkov would land another pair of deep strikes to set up a nervy finale, 75-74 with 2 minutes left. De Colo from the foul line and Pierre on the baseline pushed the hosts further ahead, and Spanoulis's score was bettered by Pierre from deep, icing the game with 18 seconds left.

Fener keeps it moving

Fenerbahce had great ball movement throughout the team, registering a season-high 25 assists through nine different players. Nando De Colo and Jan Vesely led the way with 5 assists each, followed by Edgaras Ulanovas (4), Marko Guduric (3) and Dyshawn Pierre (3).

Solid return for Guduric

Marko Guduric, making his first appearance for Fenerbahce after returning to the club, had a solid contribution of 4 points, 2 rebounds, 3 assists and 1 steal in his 20 minutes on the floor.

Sloukas dishes but doesn't score

Olympiacos guard Kostas Sloukas, making his first return to Fenerbahce after spending five seasons with the club, had a strong night of distribution, dishing a game-high 7 assists, but he went just 1-for-5 from the field for a total of 5 points.

Milestone night for Olympiacos

This was the 500th game in the modern era of the competition for Olympiacos, which became the third team to reach that milestone after FC Barcelona and CSKA Moscow, while TD Systems Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz duly followed to become the fourth later on Wednesday.

Next round

The 17th and final round of the 2020 portion of the season will see Olympiacos travel to take on Khimki Moscow Region on Tuesday, while Fenerbahce stays at home to welcome LDLC ASVEL Villeurbanne the following night.

Jan Vesely - Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul - EB20
Wednesday, December 23, 2020
Euroleague.net
Referees: GARCIA, JUAN CARLOS; PASTUSIAK, PIOTR; NIKOLIC, UROS
Attendance: 0
By Quarter1234
Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul22232118
Olympiacos Piraeus27141323
End of Quarter1234
Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul22456684
Olympiacos Piraeus27415477
Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul
  Rebounds Blocks Fouls
# Player Min Pts 2FG 3FG FT O D T As St To Fv Ag Cm Rv PIR
4 BROWN, LORENZO 21:33 7 2/5 1/3     2 2 1 3 2   2 2   2
8 GUDURIC, MARKO 20:47 4 2/5 0/4     2 2 3 1     1 3 2 1
10 MAHMUTOGLU, MELIH 19:26 12 2/3 2/5 2/2       1         1 2 10
13 BIBEROVIC, TARIK DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
19 DE COLO, NANDO 26:25 10 1/4 0/3 8/8   8 8 5 2 2   2   6 21
21 PIERRE, DYSHAWN 23:31 14 4/6 2/3   2 2 4 3 1 2 1   1 1 18
22 BARTHEL, DANILO 30:46 11 5/8 0/1 1/1 1 2 3 2   2   1 3 2 8
24 VESELY, JAN 28:23 17 8/8   1/2 1 3 4 5 1   1   2 4 29
25 SIPAHI, KENAN DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
31 EDDIE, JARELL 5:53 5 1/1 1/2                       4
44 DUVERIOGLU, AHMET 6:40 2 1/1     1   1 1 1       4   1
92 ULANOVAS, EDGARAS 16:36 2 1/1 0/1   1   1 4         2 2 6
Team           3 2 5     1         4
Totals 200:00 84 27/42 6/22 12/13 9 21 30 25 9 9 2 6 18 19 104
        64.3% 27.3% 92.3%
Head coach: KOKOSKOV, IGOR
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
Olympiacos Piraeus
  Rebounds Blocks Fouls
# Player Min Pts 2FG 3FG FT O D T As St To Fv Ag Cm Rv PIR
2 HARRISON, AARON 18:55 11 1/3 3/6     2 2 1 1       1 3 12
4 CHARALAMPOPOULOS, VASILIS DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
5 LARENTZAKIS, GIANNOULIS DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
7 SPANOULIS, VASSILIS 22:08 11 2/3 2/6 1/1   1 1 2 1 3   2 1 3 7
11 SLOUKAS, KOSTAS 21:39 5 0/1 1/4 2/2   1 1 7   2       3 10
12 MARTIN, HASSAN 20:10 5 2/3   1/1 1 3 4     1     4 2 5
14 VEZENKOV, SASHA 21:23 17 1/2 5/7     4 4 2     1   1 1 21
16 PAPANIKOLAOU, KOSTAS 27:13 6   2/6     1 1 2   1 1   2 1 4
17 JEAN-CHARLES, LIVIO 28:00 12 3/4 2/2   1 5 6 3   3 2   3 2 18
22 JENKINS, CHARLES 7:31               1   1     1   -1
32 ELLIS, OCTAVIUS 10:27 2 1/2     1 1 2 1     2   2 1 5
77 MCKISSIC, SHAQUIELLE 22:34 8 3/4 0/1 2/5 1 1 2 2 1 3     4 2 3
Team             1 1               1
Totals 200:00 77 13/22 15/32 6/9 4 20 24 21 3 14 6 2 19 18 85
        59.1% 46.9% 66.7%
Head coach: BARTZOKAS, GEORGIOS

Head Coaches

KOKOSKOV, IGOR
Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul
"It was a team effort. We came with the mindset to be aggressive. It wasn't pretty; there were a lot of mistakes. We were gassed, and we had a couple of new guys so we're looking for the right rotation. But overall we had the desire to protect the home court and win this game. We got frustrated with the mental mistakes we were making but there was big heart. Just pure effort and energy gave us the victory tonight."
BARTZOKAS, GEORGIOS
Olympiacos Piraeus
"Our effort wasn't enough to win the game. We had a good offensive quarter in the first, and a good defensive quarter in the fourth. But we needed much more offensively and defensively to win. We have to be stable in our principles, and sometimes we gave their very talented players the opportunity to feel comfortable on the court. We made it a one-possession game, but then we fouled De Colo, and then a traveling violation, and the game was over. Congratulations to Fenerbahce and Merry Christmas to everybody."

Players

VESELY, JAN
Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul
"I try to help the team in the best way possible. In the late plays, they came to trap me and I had two guys outside alone, so I'm not going to go for the basket; I'm going to pass it outside. On defense, it's my seventh year here and I always do these things. I'm happy for the team. Finally, we played team basketball, not for 40 minutes but at least most of the time. After losing by so many points, we realized that we had to be more focused, play like a team, and don't quit. We didn't quit today even though they came close. We came back and got the victory."
DE COLO, NANDO
Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul
"We tried to make things a bit easier in our game. The last months it was really difficult for us, but we tried to keep working every day to get better. We tried to play together. I just try to help the team. We knew they had big men who go to the offensive rebounds, so we had to box them out and the guards needed to come and help. It's great to have Marko [Guduric] on the team; he's a great player who understands the team. It doesn't feel like he came last week; it feels like he was here from the beginning of the season. Now, we just need to keep working together."
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