Madrid edges Fenerbahce, clinches first place

Despite its lowest-scoring game in four seasons, Real Madrid rallied in the second and in the end held off Fenerbahce Istanbul 61-56 in the Spanish capital on Friday night. Madrid improved to 22-7 and learned it clinched the first place for the regular season when CSKA Moscow lost its game in Athens. Fenerbahce, on the other hand, suffered its third straight defeat and dropped to 17-12 and seventh place in the standings. The visitors grabbed a 32-39 advantage in the third quarter, but Rudy Fernandez and Sergio Llull sparked Madrid's 19-4 run that put the hosts up for good. Llull paced the winners with 16 points, and Fernandez finished with 11, while Gustavo Ayon chipped in with 6 points, 8 rebounds and 3 assists. Bogdan Bogdanovic netted 15 points for Fenerbahce, while Jan Vesely and Bobby Dixon scored 11 apiece in defeat.

Bogdanovic hit a triple and a runner early for Fenerbahce, but Llull nailed a pair of threes and made a floater that helped put Madrid up 18-12. The hosts led 20-16 after 10 minutes, but Fenerbahce erased the deficit and went back in front with threes from Pero Antic, Nikola Kalinic and Dixon, 24-25. Vesely's close range basket capped a 5-15 run, and Fenerbahce led 29-32 at halftime. Dixon scored from the outside and Vesely twice inside to open a 32-39 advantage in the third quarter, but Fernandez hit a pair of triples to get Madrid's offense going. Llull added a three-point play and a transition three-pointer to make it 48-43 going into the fourth quarter, and Fernandez's third triple extended the margin to 8 points. Bogdanovic hit from long range for the visitors and Udoh muscled his way inside to get Fenerbahce within 53-50, but Luka Doncic nailed a three, and Trey Thompkins converted a basket-plus-foul for the biggest lead any team had in the gamet, 59-50. Fenerbahce tried to rally the same way again, through Udoh inside and Bogdanovic from the outside, but Doncic made a steal with 11 seconds to go and Llull's free throws sealed the outcome.