2019-20Regular SeasonRound 20
Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul 74
FC Barcelona 80
January 16, 2020 CET: 18:45
Local time: 20:45 ULKER SPORTS AND EVENT HALL

Barcelona holds firm at Fenerbahce

FC Barcelona sent a statement of intent by holding firm for a 74-80 road victory at Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul in a bruising encounter at Ulker Sports and Events Hall. The visiting team was red hot in the opening stages, racing to an 18-point lead early in the second quarter. Fener battled back and briefly took the lead in the fourth quarter, but Barca found fresh resolve to pull clear in the closing minutes and snap a three-game losing streak. Victor Claver led the scoring with 17 points on 6-of-7 shooting, while Nikola Mirotic had a double-double of 12 points and 11 rebounds. Malcolm Delaney scored 14 points and Brandon Davies and Cory Higgins both netted 12. Kostas Sloukas paced Fenerbahce with 14 points, 11 assists and 7 rebounds, with Nando De Colo and Nikola Kalinic adding 12 and James Nunnally scoring 11 points in defeat. Barca improved to 14-6 to stay in third place. Fenerbahce fell to 8-12.

Higgins's three-pointer and layups from Claver and Adam Hanga opened the scoring with Fenerbahce failing to score in the opening 3:36 as Mirotic's mid-range jumper made it 0-11. Malcolm Thomas broke the Fener drought with free throws and Sloukas scored from deep. Claver and Mirotic kept Barca moving. Luigi Datome’s triple was answered by Claver to make it 12-24 at the end of the first. Kyle Kuric and Delaney made it 12-30 with deep strikes before De Colo’s layup and triple capped an 8-0 run to bring Fener back. Free throws from Nunnally and De Colo – following a technical foul on visiting coach Svetislav Pesic – made it 27-33. Mirotic snapped a 17-3 run with a put-back, but Sloukas scored from deep and De Colo made free throws after an unsportsmanlike foul on Hanga, 34-35. Higgins and Pierre Oriola kept Barca ahead, but Kalinic nailed a triple and Sloukas beat the shot clock to fix the halftime score at 39-42.

Davies produced a trio of sharp finishes early in the second half and Claver’s triple stretched the lead to 43-51. Kalinic’s deep strike helped keep Fener close, but Delaney answered with a three and Claver’s one-handed floater made it 48-57. Nunnally struck twice from the corner, but Claver netted another three-pointer and it was 56-61 after three quarters. Free throws from Nunnally and De Colo’s driving score made it 60-61 before Ali Muhammed finished a fastbreak for Fener’s first lead. Hanga and Vesely exchanged close-range scores before Delaney drained a triple and drove for a layup and a 64-68 edge. A technical foul on the Fenerbahce bench was punished by Mirotic’s free throw and a jumper from Higgins. Vesely dunked before fouling out as Davies made it 66-73. Delaney’s pull-up triple gave Barca a double-digit lead. De Colo’s layup closed the gap and Derrick Williams scored free throws to make it 70-76 with 80 seconds remaining. Sloukas pulled his team closer from the foul line, but Higgins and Mirotic made their free throws to wrap it up.



Taking care of business

In the face of tough defense and a raucous crowd, Barcelona took care of the basketball brilliantly. The visiting team only committed its first turnover after 15 minutes and finished the game with 9 turnovers, 6 of which came in the frantic final quarter. Fenerbahce, by contrast, turned the ball over 17 times.

Rebounding battle closely fought

Barca also did a great job of giving itself more chances to score, grabbing 13 offensive rebounds including 3 apiece for guards Cory Higgins and Kyle Kuric. Fenerbahce had 10 offensive boards and the overall rebounding battle was tied at 34-34.

Milestone occasion for Delaney

Visiting guard Malcolm Delaney reached a milestone by passing 1,000 points in the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague with a pull-up triple midway through the third quarter. Delaney, formerly with FC Bayern Munich and Lokomotiv Kuban Krasnodar, achieved the mark in his 73rd EuroLeague appearance at an average of 13.8 points per game.

Tough night for fit-again Vesely

Jan Vesely played his second game after a two-month injury absence, but the reigning league MVP was limited after picking up 3 fouls in just 3 minutes during the first quarter. Vesely was then given a technical foul for flopping with 2:38 left in the third and lasted most of the final quarter before fouling out with 3 minutes left.

Next round

Barcelona returns home to welcome Crvena Zvezda mts Belgrade next Thursday, January 23, one night before Fenerbahce hosts AX Armani Exchange Milan.

Brandon Davies 2- FC Barcelona - EB19
Thursday, January 16, 2020
Euroleague.net
Referees: JAVOR, DAMIR; BISSANG, JOSEPH; FOUFIS, IOANNIS
Attendance: 12592
By Quarter1234
Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul12271718
FC Barcelona24181919
End of Quarter1234
Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul12395674
FC Barcelona24426180
Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul
  Rebounds Blocks Fouls
# Player Min Pts 2FG 3FG FT O D T As St To Fv Ag Cm Rv PIR
2 NUNNALLY, JAMES 23:15 11 0/2 2/3 5/5 1 2 3 1   2 1   3 3 11
9 WESTERMANN, LEO 3:42     0/1     1 1 1   2       1  
10 MAHMUTOGLU, MELIH 4:39     0/1                   1   -2
12 KALINIC, NIKOLA 23:40 12 2/5 2/4 2/2   1 1 1 1 2   1 3 2 6
16 SLOUKAS, KOSTAS 33:01 14 2/4 2/4 4/4   7 7 11   3   1 1 3 26
19 DE COLO, NANDO 29:28 12 3/4 1/2 3/3 1 1 2 1   4     3 3 9
21 WILLIAMS, DERRICK 26:40 7 2/3 0/7 3/4 1 2 3 1   1 1   4 2  
23 THOMAS, MALCOLM 4:39 2 0/1   2/2 1   1           1 1 2
24 VESELY, JAN 18:37 7 3/3   1/4 2 4 6   1 1     5 4 9
35 MUHAMMED, ALI 6:57 2 1/1             1 1       1 3
70 DATOME, LUIGI 18:07 7 2/3 1/4   1 2 3     1 1   4   2
77 LAUVERGNE, JOFFREY 7:15       0/2   1 1 2         2 1  
Team           3 3 6               6
Totals 200:00 74 15/26 8/26 20/26 10 24 34 18 3 17 3 2 27 21 72
        57.7% 30.8% 76.9%
Head coach: OBRADOVIC, ZELJKO
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
FC Barcelona
  Rebounds Blocks Fouls
# Player Min Pts 2FG 3FG FT O D T As St To Fv Ag Cm Rv PIR
0 DAVIES, BRANDON 31:37 12 4/8   4/7 1 5 6 4 3 1     3 8 22
5 RIBAS, PAU DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
8 HANGA, ADAM 15:26 6 2/2 0/2 2/2   1 1 2 1 1     3 1 5
10 SMITS, ROLANDS DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
18 ORIOLA, PIERRE 9:49 2 1/2     1   1           2    
21 ABRINES, ALEX 6:24   0/2 0/1         1       1     -3
22 HIGGINS, CORY 29:57 12 2/10 2/4 2/2 3 2 5 1   3   1 3 3 4
23 DELANEY, MALCOLM 24:34 14 1/3 4/7     2 2 2   1 1   3 2 12
24 KURIC, KYLE 14:04 5   1/4 2/2 3 1 4     2       2 6
30 CLAVER, VICTOR 29:45 17 3/4 3/3 2/2 1   1 2   1     4 1 15
33 MIROTIC, NIKOLA 34:00 12 3/8 0/4 6/6 2 9 11 2     1 1   8 24
44 TOMIC, ANTE 4:24                         4   -4
Team           2 1 3               3
Totals 200:00 80 16/39 10/25 18/21 13 21 34 14 4 9 2 3 22 25 84
        41% 40% 85.7%
Head coach: PESIC, SVETISLAV

Head Coaches

OBRADOVIC, ZELJKO
Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul
"I’m very proud of how my players fought. We played one of the best teams in the EuroLeague. We started lazy at the beginning of the game but we found a way to come back and fight. The negative points of the game were our turnovers and that we missed many open shots. They are the main reasons we lost the game. I really want to thank our people from my heart, because we had an amazing atmosphere. It’s tough for them like it’s tough for us, but we’ll continue to fight. The team is looking much better than a month ago, so there are a lot of reasons to believe in ourselves and continue to fight."
PESIC, SVETISLAV
FC Barcelona

"I think we controlled the game except for the last few minutes, when we made too many turnovers without reason. Maybe we were tired. But away wins are important. It was a game of high intensity. We decided after the first 20 minutes, don’t talk to the referees and be focussed on the game. Sometimes that can be key to win the game."

"If you play against a team on Fenerbahce’s level, especially a close game, it’s important not to make turnovers. We had the experience of our last game in Maccabi, where we made 17 turnovers – the same as Fenerbahce tonight. When you make turnovers you lose the ball, you lose confidence and you give the opposition easy chances to score."

Players

DAVIES, BRANDON
FC Barcelona
"It was a hard-fought win, they were playing really well and we wanted it a bit more. It’s hard to beat them on this floor, but it was a team effort and we played well. It’s good to be back on track and hopefully, we can build on this and get even better. Now is the time."
DELANEY, MALCOLM
FC Barcelona
"We’ve been on a losing streak so it’s good to win on the road against a tough team. It’s good to get to 1,000 points [in his EuroLeague career], but better we got the win. The last time I played here with Lokomotiv we lost, so I’ve been waiting and I’m glad I got the chance to win here. To get our confidence back after a long week for us is the best thing about it."