2018-19Regular SeasonRound 9
Maccabi FOX Tel Aviv 70
Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul 74
November 22, 2018 CET: 20:05
Local time: 21:05 MENORA MIVTACHIM ARENA

Guduric fires Fenerbahce past Maccabi

Fenerbahce Istanbul delivered a strong second-half surge to edge past Maccabi FOX Tel Aviv and earn a 70-74 victory in a pulsating atmosphere at Menora Mivtachim Arena. Marko Guduric was the hero for Fenerbahce, scoring 13 points in the space of four minutes during the final period to propel a 6-14 run that helped seal a ferociously competitive contest. He received plenty of help from Kostas Sloukas, who scored 18 points, and Jan Vesely added 11. Maccabi, which led for most of the first half, was paced by 17 points and 7 rebounds by Angelo Caloiaro, while Scottie Wilbekin scored 15. The win lifted Fenerbahce to 8-1 after four straight wins and dropped Maccabi to 1-8.

The defenses were on top early, before Maccabi pulled to an 8-2 lead with close-range scores from Wilbekin, DeAndre Kane and Tarik Black. Kendrick Ray and Sloukas both scored twice before Melih Mahmutoglu netted the last basket of the first quarter to make it 16-13. Fenerbahce took over early in the second quarter behind a pair of baskets from Joffrey Lauvergne and a triple from Gigi Datome, taking its first lead at 20-22. Wilbekin and Ali Muhammed traded triples and Johnny O’Bryant also struck from deep to restore Maccabi's lead. Datome and Wilbekin again scored triples before a three-point play from Black and a Caloiaro tip-in made it 38-30. Free throws and a Nikola Kalinic jumper pulled Fenerbahce back to 41-36 at halftime. The second half started with triples from Caloiaro and Muhammed, but then the scoring slowed before Sloukas scored 6 consecutive points and Vesely added a pair of alley-oops for a 50-53 lead. Alex Tyus tied it up at the start of the final period, but then Guduric took over, first hitting a pair of key triples and a mid-range jumper for a 62-66 edge. A red-hot Guduric made another triple and added a left-handed runner for a 63-71 cushion, but Wilbekin gave Maccabi hope from deep. Caloiaro tipped in to make it a one-possession game with 75 seconds left, but after a couple of failed possessions, Vesely split free throws for a 70-74 lead with 19 seconds to go and Maccabi couldn't respond.

Sloukas takes command in third

In addition to Guduric taking over in the final period, the other key passage of the game came midway through the third quarter, when Fenerbahce enjoyed a 3-10 run to take a lead it would never relinquish. And the key man during those moments was undoubtedly Kostas Sloukas, who scored 8 points and assisted the other basket with a great pass for an alley-oop slam by Jan Vesely.

Maccabi's D starts to stiffen

They might have lost the game, but Maccabi FOX Tel Aviv fans can take heart that their team took a step in the right direction in Coach Ioannis Sfairopoulos's first home game in charge. In particular, the intense defense displayed by Maccabi – especially in the opening stages – showed that Sfairopoulos is ready to improve that aspect of his team's game. Fenerbahce needed 3:34 to score its first basket and was forced into 3 turnovers in the first five minutes.

New star Avdija takes flight

A footnote to the game was provided by Maccabi's Deni Avdija, who stepped onto the floor early in the second quarter to make his EuroLeague debut at the tender age of 17. And far from being overawed by such a big occasion, he took just less than a minute to score his first basket! A name to remember…

Next round

Maccabi will look for its first win under new coach Sfairopoulos with a home game against FC Bayern Munich on Thursday, while a day later Fenerbahce faces a tough trip to FC Barcelona Lassa.

Marko Guduric - Fenerbahce Istanbul - EB18
Thursday, November 22, 2018
Euroleague.net
Referees: GARCIA, JUAN CARLOS; FOUFIS, IOANNIS; PANTHER, ANNE
Attendance: 9817
By Quarter1234
Maccabi FOX Tel Aviv16251217
Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul13231919
End of Quarter1234
Maccabi FOX Tel Aviv16415370
Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul13365574
Maccabi FOX Tel Aviv
  Rebounds Blocks Fouls
# Player Min Pts 2FG 3FG FT O D T As St To Fv Ag Cm Rv PIR
0 RAY, KENDRICK 12:47 8 2/4 1/1 1/2           1     4 1 1
1 WILBEKIN, SCOTTIE 27:32 15 2/6 3/11 2/2   3 3 3 1 1     2 4 11
3 O'BRYANT, JOHNNY 28:42 5 1/6 1/3   2 5 7 3 1 1     1 4 11
4 CALOIARO, ANGELO 32:30 17 5/8 2/4 1/2 6 2 8 1 3       1 2 24
7 KANE, DEANDRE 38:14 9 4/7 0/2 1/2 2 1 3 3 2 3     4 2 6
8 AVDIJA, DENI 2:38 2 1/1                     1   1
9 TYUS, ALEX 18:19 6 3/3   0/1   2 2 1 1   1   1 1 10
10 LEVI, NIMROD 0:16                              
12 DIBARTOLOMEO, JOHN 0:55                              
15 COHEN, JAKE DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
28 BLACK, TARIK 23:12 6 2/5   2/3   5 5 1 1 1 1   3 4 10
50 ZOOSMAN, YOVEL 14:55 2 1/2 0/2         1 1 1   1 3   -4
Team           1 2 3     2         1
Totals 200:00 70 21/42 7/23 7/12 11 20 31 13 10 10 2 1 20 18 71
        50% 30.4% 58.3%
Head coach: SFAIROPOULOS, IOANNIS
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
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 DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
4 MELLI, NICOLO 26:56 2 1/2 0/1   1 3 4 2 2 1     3 1 5
10 MAHMUTOGLU, MELIH 14:14 4 2/2 0/1     1 1           1 1 4
12 KALINIC, NIKOLA 23:18 2 1/4 0/1     7 7 1   1     3 2 4
16 SLOUKAS, KOSTAS 33:37 18 5/7 1/2 5/5 1   1 2   5   1 3 6 15
18 ARNA, EGEHAN DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
23 GUDURIC, MARKO 19:45 13 2/5 3/3   1   1 1 1 3     2   8
24 VESELY, JAN 25:25 11 2/4   7/8 1 1 2   1 3     2 6 12
35 MUHAMMED, ALI 20:24 8 0/1 2/7 2/2   3 3 3         1 1 8
44 DUVERIOGLU, AHMET 4:38   0/1       1 1     1     1 2  
70 DATOME, LUIGI 11:17 8 1/3 2/3   2   2           2 1 6
77 LAUVERGNE, JOFFREY 20:26 8 4/7 0/1   2 6 8 1     1 1     13
Team             3 3               3
Totals 200:00 74 18/36 8/19 14/15 8 25 33 10 4 14 1 2 18 20 78
        50% 42.1% 93.3%
Head coach: OBRADOVIC, ZELJKO

Head Coaches

SFAIROPOULOS, IOANNIS
Maccabi FOX Tel Aviv
"It’s my honor to be here as Maccabi head coach. I want to thanks the owners for bringing me here. Maccabi is a legendary club and I will give my maximum with the players as a squad to fight for the good of Maccabi. For the game, we are disappointed not to get a good result, but we are satisfied because we saw how we want to play from now on. We played much better than the Efes game. Our players worked hard and we saw they will bring back Maccabi’s mantle as a fighting team that never gives up. It’s important that we played so good without practise after the Efes game, with the help of my staff. This game shows we are in a good way and we will improve the details we want to bring into our game. We needed something more to win this game, and we will find it. This is the first time in my career that I congratulated my players after a loss. They are great players and I believe in them. I also want to thank the fans, who were fantastic and helped us so much."
OBRADOVIC, ZELJKO
Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul
“We only had one day to prepare, which is not easy. Congratulations to my players, a very important victory. Marko Guduric played a nice game, and he is a good player, but this is a team win. I'm very happy with all the games we've played so far, but it is clear we do not play at the level of quality we have. First of all, I have to think about what we should change. We have a long road ahead of us.”

Players

O'BRYANT, JOHNNY
Maccabi FOX Tel Aviv
"It's tough, we keep improving from day to day and we're close to going on a winning spree. We all believe in each other and in our coach, we need to move forward. The method of the new coach is to play hard, he's very positive with us."
BLACK, TARIK
Maccabi FOX Tel Aviv
"We're working hard and we're trying. The third quarter was the turning point. We felt the energies of the fans and it pushed us forward. We need to learn from this and move forward."
MUHAMMED, ALI
Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul
"We knew it was going to be a tough game. It was exactly as we expected. We had to respond to the energy of Maccabi with the same energy. We weren't very good in the first half, but in the second half we improved and finally managed to win."
SLOUKAS, KOSTAS
Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul
"We knew Maccabi play aggressive here and that they would start aggressive, but the key was that we played good defense. We didn’t give them fastbreaks, we played good defense and won the game."
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