Strasbourg stuns Fenerbahce behind big game from Weems

Strasbourg used a big fourth quarter run to pull away from Fenerbahce Istanbul on the way to a resounding 91-70 win on Friday night. Both teams now sit with 1-1 records in Group A. Kyle Weems led the winners with 22 points. Strasbourg took the lead for good with a 9-0 run at the end of the second quarter, but pulled away with a 16-3 spurt to start the fourth. Weems scored 12 of his 22 points in the final 11 minutes of the game, on 4-for-5 three-point shooting. Rodrigue Beaubois added 14 points, Mardy Collins and Romeo Travis in his debut scored 11 each, while Vladimir Golubovic contributed with 10 points and 7 rebounds. Bogdan Bogdanovic scored 12 for the visitors, Peto Antic had 11, and Jan Vesely 10 in defeat.

First quarter: Sloukas triples put Fenerbahce in front

Nikola Kalinic opened the scoring inside, and Weems opened the hosts’ account with a triple. Golubovic added a short turnaround jumper to Strasbourg’s tally and after Antic scored inside for Fenerbahce, Weems hit a triple and then a baseline jumper for a 10-4 lead. But a three-pointer from Bogdanovic sparked a run for the visitors. Golubovic made a long jumper, but Antic and Sloukas hit back-to-back threes to make it 12-13. Sloukas then connected with Vesely for an alley-oop dunk, and after Paul Lacombe made a steal and raced for an easy fastbreak score, Sloukas nailed his third for a 14-18 lead. Golubovic and Bogdanovic traded baskets, before Vesely hit a long jumper that made it 16-22. Before the quarter’s end, Collins had a layup and a triple to cut the deficit to 21-24 after 10 minutes.

Second quarter: 9-0 finish gives Strasbourg halftime lead

Travis opened the quarter with a mid-range jumper. Melih Mahmutoglu buried a triple for Fenerbahce, but Travis answered with a three-point play, and Collins drove for a layup that made it 28-27. The teams traded leads after that. Bobby Dixon triple hit a triple, and after an Bangaly Fofana’s alley-oop dunk, Dixon and Campbell traded threes. Vesely had a tip-in and Udoh an alley-oop dunk, but Campbell hit again from long range, and Travis scored from short range for a 38-37 edge. Udoh had a monster dunk, but Travis scored a layup before Beaubois went on a run of his own. He made a runner in the lane, then hit a step-back triple, before driving almost the length of the court for a layup. In the final seconds, Fanfana blocked a shot that led to a fastbreak that Travis finished with a layup for a 49-41 halftime lead.

Third quarter: The visitors cut it closer

Vesely and Weems each had a put-back early in the quarter. Kalinic’s three-point play got Fenerbahce within 51-46, but Fofana answered with another alley-oop dunk. Collins finished a breakaway with an easy layup that kept the lead at 7 points four minutes into the half and Jeremy Leloup nailed a three-pointer for the first double-digit lead of the night, 58-48. After a timeout, Dixon hit a triple. After a Beaubois floater, Bogdanovic nailed a triple himself cutting the deficit to 60-54. The visitors held Strasbourg without a basket for almost four minutes, and Bogdanovic drove and dribbled for a layup to cut into the deficit. But Paul Lacombe made free throws to end Strasbourg’s scoring drought, and Weems hit a last second three-pointer to make it 65-58.

Fourth quarter: 16-3 run paves way for Strasbourg win

Lacombe free throws and long jumper put the margin back into double figures. Luigi Datome chased down a pair of offensive rebounds, but the visitors came up empty, before a floater from Weems made it 70-58, as Fenerbahce Coach Zeljko Obradovic called timeout. But more buckets from Weems – a layup, and a triple – gave Strasbourg a 75-58 advantage and a complete control. Mahmutoglu answered with a triple to snap a 10-0 run, but Golubovic scored inside, Beaubois hit a mid-range jumper, before Golubovic’s basket from Weems’s assist made it 81-61. Vesely scored from close range, but Beaubois hit from long range on the other end. Fenerbahce got a put-back from Bogdanovic and a floater from Datome, but Weems and Frank Ntilikina scored for the hosts, before Omer Yurtseven and Ntilikina traded triples to round out the scoring.