2018-19Regular SeasonRound 10
FC Barcelona Lassa 65
Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul 84
November 30, 2018 CET: 21:00
Local time: 21:00 PALAU BLAUGRANA

Fenerbahce stops Barcelona, stays first

Fenerbahce Istanbul got its sixth consecutive win by downing FC Barcelona Lassa 65-84 at Palau Blaugrana on Friday. Fenerbahce improved to 9-1 in the standings, tied for first place with CSKA Moscow, while Barcelona dropped to 6-4 with its first home loss. Ali Muhammed led the winners with 16 points. Marko Guduric added 13. Jan Vesely and Luigi Datome each had 11 for Fenerbahce while Nicolo Melli got 10 for Fenerbahce. Adam Hanga led Barcelona with 16 points and Kyle Kuric added 10.

A couple of early three-pointers by Muhammed allowed Fenerbahce to take a 6-8 lead. Erick Green downed back-to-back jumpers and Muhammed added a floater but Kevin Seraphin kept Barcelona within 10-14. Vesely and Nikola Kalinic scored around the basket and Datome added his trademark baseline jumper for a 13-20 Fenerbahce margin. Pierre Oriola followed a layup with free throws but Muhammed restored a 17-23 Fenerbahce lead after 10 minutes. Muhammed buried his third triple early in the second quarter and Datome added his first to make it a double-digit game, 19-29. Joffrey Lauvergne scored twice in the paint, getting help from Guduric and Datome to boost the guests' lead to 23-38. Hanga and Kuric stepped up for Barcelona, forcing Fenerbahce to call timeout at 29-39. An unstoppable Hanga sank a three-pointer that capped an 11-1 Barcelona run. Guduric answered from downtown and Vesely added a jumper to give Fenerbahce fresh air, 36-45, at halftime. Ante Tomic stepped up after the break, bringing Barcelona within 42-47. But Melli soon followed a corner triple with a couple of jumpers and Kalinic sank a three-pointer that boosted the guests' lead to 44-57. Kalinic scored again and a tip-in by Lauvergne broke the game open, 44-61. Muhammed matched Kuric's triple with a layup-plus-free throw for a 47-64 score after 30 minutes. Hanga and Pau Ribas gave Barcelona hope at 58-68 with 6 minutes left, but Lauvergne hit a jump hook before a layup by Guduric sealed the outcome, 58-72. Barcelona never gave up but Fenerbahce nonetheless cruised to a big road win.

Muhammed to the rescue

With Kostas Sloukas sidelined, it was time for Muhammed to step up big - and he did. He finished the game with season highs of 16 points, 5 rebounds and 17 PIR. Muhammed showed his best at the perfect time.

Game-changing moment

Barcelona got within 42-47 early in the second half, but Melli had the opening 7 points in a 2-14 run in which Kalinic had 5 others and Lauvergne added a tip-in that gave Fenerbahce a 44-61 lead, enough to control the game for good.

Stellar stat

Barcelona scored 12-of-19 two-point shots in the first half (63.2%) but just 6-of- 18 (33.3%) after the break. Fenerbahce adjusted its defense in the paint and that made the difference.

Did you notice?

It took just 16 seconds for Egehan Arna to block a shot in his first EuroLeague appearance this season. Ergi Tirpanci, born on January 1, 2000, made his EuroLeague debut with Fenerbahce tonight.

Next game

Both teams hit the road in Round 11. Barcelona visits Buducnost VOLI Podgorica on Thursday, while Fenerbahce travels on Friday to the Greek capital to face Panathinaikos OPAP Athens, the team with whom Coach Zeljko Obradovic won five EuroLeague titles.

Ali Muhammed - Fenerbahce Istanbul - EB18
Friday, November 30, 2018
Euroleague.net
Referees: LAMONICA, LUIGI; KOROMILAS, ELIAS; NEDOVIC, MILAN
Attendance: 6013
By Quarter1234
FC Barcelona Lassa17191118
Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul23221920
End of Quarter1234
FC Barcelona Lassa17364765
Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul23456484
FC Barcelona Lassa
  Rebounds Blocks Fouls
# Player Min Pts 2FG 3FG FT O D T As St To Fv Ag Cm Rv PIR
1 SERAPHIN, KEVIN 16:58 6 2/4   2/2 1 2 3 2   1     1 1 8
3 PANGOS, KEVIN 17:34   0/2 0/3         3 1 1     2   -4
5 RIBAS, PAU 8:51 5 0/2 1/2 2/2       2 1 1     1 1 4
6 SINGLETON, CHRIS 24:15 3 1/3 0/2 1/2   1 1   1   1   3 1 -1
8 HANGA, ADAM 23:08 16 5/6 1/2 3/4 1 5 6 2 3 2 1   2 4 25
9 BLAZIC, JAKA 12:01 2 1/2 0/1   1   1     1   1   1  
13 HEURTEL, THOMAS 16:41 2 1/4 0/1         4   2     1   -1
14 PUSTOVYI, ARTEM 8:01 3     3/6 1 1 2   1   1     3 7
18 ORIOLA, PIERRE 17:26 9 2/4 1/1 2/4 2 2 4         1 1 3 10
24 KURIC, KYLE 26:03 10 2/3 2/4     2 2 1       1 3 3 9
30 CLAVER, VICTOR 15:42 2 1/1       2 2     1     1 2 4
44 TOMIC, ANTE 13:20 7 3/6   1/2 1 1 2 2   2 1 1 3 3 5
Team             4 4               4
Totals 200:00 65 18/37 5/16 14/22 7 20 27 16 7 11 4 4 18 22 70
        48.6% 31.3% 63.6%
Head coach: PESIC, SVETISLAV
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 13:54 4 2/4       1 1 1   1   1 2 1 1
3 TIRPANCI, ERGI 1:02   0/1           1       1     -1
4 MELLI, NICOLO 22:38 10 2/5 2/3     3 3 2   1 1   2 2 11
12 KALINIC, NIKOLA 26:22 9 3/5 1/4   1   1 3         4 1 5
16 SLOUKAS, KOSTAS DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
18 ARNA, EGEHAN 4:15   0/1 0/1               1 1 1   -3
23 GUDURIC, MARKO 29:42 13 3/4 2/3 1/2 1 4 5 4 3 1       3 24
24 VESELY, JAN 26:29 11 4/7   3/4 2 6 8 4   3     3 4 17
35 MUHAMMED, ALI 28:49 16 3/4 3/7 1/1 1 4 5 2   2     2 4 18
44 DUVERIOGLU, AHMET 11:14 2 1/1     1 4 5   1       1 1 8
70 DATOME, LUIGI 15:56 11 3/4 1/1 2/3   2 2     1 1   2 1 10
77 LAUVERGNE, JOFFREY 19:39 8 4/6     1   1   1 2 1 1 5 1 2
Team           2 2 4               4
Totals 200:00 84 25/42 9/19 7/10 9 26 35 17 5 11 4 4 22 18 96
        59.5% 47.4% 70%
Head coach: OBRADOVIC, ZELJKO

Head Coaches

PESIC, SVETISLAV
FC Barcelona Lassa
"First of all, congratulations to Fenerbahce. They played a perfect game from the first minute until the end. There are many thing but one is most important; we didn't find solutions to take out Muhammed out of the game. This is, I think, one detail, but there are many others if you analyze the game, if you lose the game. I am not happy because we lost the game, but I am not disappointed, because from this game we can learn a lot. We needed a little bit of physical power. I think that the last two games that we played this weekend, against Milan and Madrid, were very good for us, physically and also in terms of motivation and mental preparation. One more time, congratulations to Fenerbahce. We played very strong, with very good organization, very good physicality. We tried but in the end, we didn't find solutions to change the rhythm of the game. It is never easy when your opponent is one step ahead of you from the beginning of the game. We can learn a lot of things from this game. We have to come back into the game always with defense, but also with good organization on offense. There was a moment in which we looked like we could change the rhythm of the game, but we didn't have enough patience on offense. It is important not to lose that organization on offense, even when they play very aggressive and physical on defense. We had other games in which our opponents played like that. We wanted to do things fast and win the game quickly. We have to talk about this and learn from it."
OBRADOVIC, ZELJKO
Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul
"We tried to prepare ourselves for the game understanding that Barcelona had been playing at a high level lately. First of all, they play really aggressive defense with a lot of half-court traps, and we tried to prepare ourselves for that situation. The second thing that was important for us is that Barcelona is a team that always goes for offensive rebounds. They had an average of, I believe, close to 12. And in the first half, we didn't allow them to get any offensive rebound. The team played with big confidence and I believe that our defense really was pretty good. Offensively, we played using the quality that my players have, so good organization on offense, even in the moments when we played with some players who normally don't play in these positions, like point guard, because of the problem we had with Kostas [Sloukas]. However, I believe that we played a very good game against a team that, I insist, plays very good basketball. I believe that Barcelona has a lot of talent and that is a serious candidate to go to the Final Four."

Players

TOMIC, ANTE
FC Barcelona Lassa
"There is a big difference on the scoreboard, but the truth is that we didn't play well, both on offense or defense. It was hard for us to the things we usually do on offense. Then on defense, we were not as aggressive as in previous games."
DATOME, LUIGI
Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul
"I am very happy. It was not easy to come here without important players and to do this kind of performance. Everybody really contributed to this win. We have been very solid and did what we prepared. It was a big win but, of course, it is only one game. We have to keep working and keep building, because the season is still very long."
GUDURIC, MARKO
Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul
"Of course, we are happy, it was a great win for us. We knew that it would be a tough game, especially being on the road, without Kostas [Sloukas]. We knew we had to play very hard and we did a very good job defensively. We were aggressive and I am glad that we were able to win this game."
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