Vesely makes sure that Fenerbahce downs Bamberg

Fenerbahce Dogus Istanbul busted out to early leads and followed an inspired Jan Vesely to a 77-69 victory over visiting Brose Bamberg on Friday. Fenerbahce raised its second-place record to 15-7 while Brose dropped to 8-14. Vesely was the game-long catalyst for the winners, finishing with 26 points and 11 rebounds. It was the second-best scoring night of his career and led to his career-high index rating of 36. Vesely made 9 of 12 two-point shots and 8 of 10 free throws. Fenerbahce's other double-digit scorer was Marko Guduric with 10 points and no shots missed, while Brad Wanamaker scored 9 to go with 5 rebounds, 5 assists and 3 steals. Fenerbahce led by a high of 17 points, 52-35, midway through the third quarter, but Dejan Musli had 13 of his 18 points for Brose after that to get the guests within 8 points with 5 minutes left, but no closer. Daniel Hackett added 11 points and Ricky Hickman 10 in defeat.

Ahmet Duverioglu scored twice inside before Guduric dunked on the break and then drove for a three-point play at 9-3. Bamberg's fourth turnover already was converted into a fastbreak layup by Melih Mahmutoglu. Dorell Wright finally hit Brose's first field goal, a runner, after 6 minutes to make it 11-5. Free throws from Louis Olinde and Dejan Musli lowered the difference before Daniel Hackett's triple made it 12-11. Wanamaker answered with a layup, but Hackett's turnaround jumper left a 16-13 score after 10 minutes. Hackett picked up where he left off, swishing a long two, while Vesely spun for a layup. Luigi Datome hit free throws at 20-15 that Patrick Heckmann answered from the corner. Jason Thompson and Kostas Sloukas joined the Fenerbahce scorers before Musli scored twice as the visitors pulled within 26-22. Datome struck from downtown and Vesely dunked a pair of misses for the first double-digit lead, 33-22. Melli and Vesely stretched that to 37-24 with free throws before Ricky Hickman drilled a three-pointer for Bamberg. Sloukas danced through the visitors' zone defense for a layup before Bamberg's Nikos Zisis hit from deep and Wright beat the buzzer with a one-legged runner for a 42-32 halftime score.

Wanamaker and Guduric stretched the lead right after halftime as Brose against waited more than 2 minutes to score on a Hackett layup at 46-34. Vesely and Wanamaker made it the biggest lead so far, 50-34, before Augustine Rubit, the Round 21 MVP, got his first point at the foul line. Lucca Staiger made a three-pointer and Musli scored inside to make it 52-40. Guduric responded from long distance and Aleksej Nikolic made free throws and a jump shot as Bamberg inched closer, 55-45. That was too close for Melli, who scored inside, and Ali Muhammed, who drilled a triple to make it 60-45. Hackett's put-back and a free throw by Nikolic left a 61-48 difference after 30 minutes. Wanamaker started the fourth-quarter scoring but Musli's three-point play and a layup by Nikolic got the difference down to 63-53. Musli's next three-point play meant a single-digit difference, 65-56. Then Musli answered Nikola Kalinic's triple with a pair of baskets to make it 70-60. Hickman's running one-hander came next, forcing a Fenerbahce timeout, with 5 minutes left. Vesely made sure of the victory then and there, with a put-back dunk and another to finished a break. Datome's next shot made it 76-62 as Fenerbahce's defense held Bamberg scoreless for 3:30 when it mattered most to walk off with a home win.