2017-18Regular SeasonRound 26
Fenerbahce Dogus Istanbul 79
CSKA Moscow 81
March 16, 2018 CET: 18:45
Local time: 20:45 ULKER SPORTS AND EVENT HALL

De Colo's game-winner lifts CSKA past Fenerbahce

In a battle between the last two Turkish Airlines EuroLeague champions that literally went down to the final second, CSKA Moscow sent a message that echoed all around the competition by downing Fenerbahce Dogus Istanbul 79-81 on the road on Friday. Nando De Colo hit the buzzer-beating jumper that gave CSKA the win. CSKA improved to 21-5 in the regular season standings while Fenerbahce dropped to 18-8. Andrey Vorontsevich led the winners with 17 points on 5-of-5 three-point shots. Kyle Hines and Cory Higgins had 15 apiece, De Colo got 13 and 8 assists while Sergio Rodriguez contributed 10 points for CSKA. Nicolo Melli led Fenerbahce with 18 points. Jan Vesely added 13, Brad Wanamaker had 11 while James Nunnally scored 10. Nunnally shined early to give Fenerbahce a 9-2 lead but Hines and Vorontsevich led a 0-11 run which gave CSKA a 17-20 lead. De Colo kept CSKA in charge, 23-25, after 10 minutes. A three-pointer by Rodriguez soon boosted CSKA's margin to 26-34. Melli and Nikola Kalinic stepped up to bring Fenerbahce within 40-44 at halftime. Vesely took over after the break, getting help from Luigi Datome and Kostas Sloukas to give Fenerbahce a 58-54 margin after 30 minutes. Vorontsevich and Hunter combined for nine points in a 2-11 run that made CSKA regain the lead, 60-65, early in the fourth quarter. CSKA led 69-74 in the next-to-last minute but Melli and Sloukas managed to tie the game, 79-79, with 11.1 seconds left, before De Colo sank the game-winning shot at the buzzer.

Nunnally got Fenerbahce going with a jumper which Hines erased with a put-back layup. A three-pointer by Brad Wanamaker sparked a 7-0 run which Kalinic capped with a layup for a 9-2 Fenerbahce lead. Vorontsevich nailed a triple and Hines added back-to-back layups but a red hot Nunnally followed a three-point play with a bomb from downtown to boost the hosts' lead to 17-9. Nikita Kurbanov, Hines and Vorontsevich fueled a 0-11 CSKA run which put the guests in charge, 17-20. De Colo stepped up with a driving layup and a deep three-pointer but Melli scored down low and downed a buzzer-beating shot from beyond midcourt for a 23-25 deficit after 10 minutes. Rodriguez hit a jumper early in the second quarter and layups by De Colo and Higgins made it a six-point game, 26-31. Rodriguez struck from downtown and Hines added a jumper but Melli and Wanamaker kept Fenerbahce within 31-36. Higgins scored in penetration and Vorontsevich sank his third triple but Kalinic followed a driving layup with a three-point play, Vesely made free throws and a turnaround jumper by Melli made it a one-point game, 40-41. A three-pointer by Rodriguez fixed the halftime score at 40-44. Datome sank a jumper after the break and back-to-back slams by Vesely put Fenerbahce ahead, 46-44. Hines rescued CSKA with a three-point play and Higgins scored down low, but Vesely got help from Datome and Marko Guduric for a 53-51 score. Othello Hunter tried to change things for the guests but a layup-plus-foul by Jason Thompson and free throws by Sloukas gave Fenerbahce a 58-54 edge after 30 minutes. Vorontsevich and Hunter combined for nine points in a 2-11 run that gave CSKA a 60-65 edge early in the fourth quarter. Vesely scored again and three-pointers by Datome and Melli provided another lead change, 68-67. De Colo stepped up with a layup, Higgins added free throws and Vorontsevich struck from downtown for a 68-74 CSKA margin with 3:30 left. Melli hit a jumper and Wanamaker added a layup but back-to-back baskets by Higgins seemed to seal the outcome, 72-78, with 1:14 remaining. Melli hit a triple, Higgins split free throws and foul shots by Wanamaker and Sloukas tied the game, 79-79, with 11.1 seconds to go. It all came down to the final play, which saw De Colo down a five-meter jumper to give CSKA the win at the buzzer!

Both teams play at home in Round 27 - Fenerbahce hosts Maccabi FOX Tel Aviv on Tuesday and CSKA welcomes Olympiacos Piraeus on Wednesday.

Nando De Colo 2- CSKA Moscow - EB17
Friday, March 16, 2018
Euroleague.net
Referees: HIERREZUELO, DANIEL; JAVOR, DAMIR; PATERNICO, CARMELO
Attendance: 12947
By Quarter1234
Fenerbahce Dogus Istanbul23171821
CSKA Moscow25191027
End of Quarter1234
Fenerbahce Dogus Istanbul23405879
CSKA Moscow25445481
Fenerbahce Dogus Istanbul
  Rebounds Blocks Fouls
# Player Min Pts 2FG 3FG FT O D T As St To Fv Ag Cm Rv PIR
1 THOMPSON, JASON 17:36 4 1/1   2/3   3 3 1         2 3 8
4 MELLI, NICOLO 33:44 18 4/4 3/4 1/2   4 4 1   1     3 2 19
10 MAHMUTOGLU, MELIH DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
11 WANAMAKER, BRAD 23:20 11 3/7 1/3 2/2 1 3 4 4   3   1 3 1 7
16 SLOUKAS, KOSTAS 24:19 6 1/2 0/2 4/4   6 6 5 1 4 1   2 6 16
21 NUNNALLY, JAMES 18:41 10 2/2 1/3 3/3         1 1     2 2 8
23 GUDURIC, MARKO 10:18 2 1/2 0/2     1 1 2 1 2     1 1 1
24 VESELY, JAN 28:14 13 5/5   3/6 3 4 7 4   2 2   5 7 23
33 KALINIC, NIKOLA 20:27 7 3/3 0/2 1/1       2   2       2 7
35 MUHAMMED, ALI DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
44 DUVERIOGLU, AHMET DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
70 DATOME, LUIGI 23:21 8 2/3 1/3 1/1   4 4 2   3 1   3   6
Team           1 2 3               3
Totals 200:00 79 22/29 6/19 17/22 5 27 32 21 3 18 4 1 21 24 98
        75.9% 31.6% 77.3%
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
CSKA Moscow
  Rebounds Blocks Fouls
# Player Min Pts 2FG 3FG FT O D T As St To Fv Ag Cm Rv PIR
1 DE COLO, NANDO 33:24 13 5/9 1/3 0/1   1 1 8 1 2   1 3 4 14
3 RUDD, VICTOR 4:40           1 1           2   -1
7 FRIDZON, VITALY DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
9 WESTERMANN, LEO 2:33     0/1                   1   -2
11 ANTONOV, SEMEN 2:36   0/1                         -1
13 RODRIGUEZ, SERGIO 27:15 10 2/3 2/8     3 3 4 1 2   1 2 1 7
20 VORONTSEVICH, ANDREY 29:06 17 1/1 5/5   1 3 4           1 2 22
21 CLYBURN, WILL 13:04   0/4 0/1   1 3 4 1   1     1 1 -1
22 HIGGINS, CORY 28:34 15 6/10 0/1 3/4   1 1 2 3 2   1 5 7 14
41 KURBANOV, NIKITA 21:24 4 1/2   2/2   2 2 2 1 1     2 1 6
42 HINES, KYLE 26:27 15 7/10   1/1 1   1 1     1 1 3 4 15
44 HUNTER, OTHELLO 10:57 7 3/4   1/2 1 1 2   2       5 1 5
Team           1 1 2               2
Totals 200:00 81 25/44 8/19 7/10 5 16 21 18 8 8 1 4 25 21 80
        56.8% 42.1% 70%
Head coach: ITOUDIS, DIMITRIS

Head Coaches

OBRADOVIC, ZELJKO
Fenerbahce Dogus Istanbul
“Congratulations to CSKA for their victory. I also want to thank my players for everything they tried to do. We saw the team fight and I congratulate my players. In some moments we played really well but in other moments we turned over the ball very easily. There are many positive things from this game, but also some negative things we need to work on. Thanks also to our people for the atmosphere tonight. It was a difficult game and every match against CSKA is like this. We lost in the last second and the individual quality of De Colo was the key. Kalinic gave the right defense but he still made the shot. Of course, 18 turnovers also adversely affected us. We have four more games and we have to continue fighting because it's important to get home advantage in the playoffs. We must continue and I trust my players.”
ITOUDIS, DIMITRIS
CSKA Moscow

“Fenerbahce opened the game ideally for them, 9-2, and we had to change a lot of things in the first time out. Thanks to our reaction we played a different game and took the lead. In this great game of basketball a lot of things happen, Melli made a basket from the half-court, and in the third quarter Fenerbahce was again decisive and we played the wrong game offensively. It cannot be a one-man game – this game is so beautiful because it’s a team game. Because it includes a lot of players in different circumstances with good spacing to create the best possible shots.”

“Turnovers was one of the keys, forcing Fenerbahce into 18 turnovers. They have great individuals and a great fluent offensive game, but we force a lot of turnovers. That was the key. When we have more possessions we can operate better. They shot better in twos, had more rebounds, and we couldn’t go to the free throw line many times. But we managed to save the ball a lot and we had a lot of options. Of course the outcome could have been different, when you play a tight game we both could have won and it would have been fair. But we deserved to come back and change the chip from the third quarter, when we didn’t do a good job offensively. We were locked into their switches and one-on-one game, when they hurt us a lot. When we started moving the ball we had open looks, second chances, a lot of drives, and when we open up like this in the second part of the third quarter and the fourth quarter, we have won a great game. It’s another game down the stretch in this marathon, the players showed most of the game they were determined and they show that in daily practises too, so congratulations to them for that win.”

Players

WANAMAKER, BRAD
Fenerbahce Dogus Istanbul
“We played well, but it was a difficult game. They are now the best team in EuroLeague. We had a chance to win and we’re sorry we lost. We must attack more and finish inside the paint. We should learn this for the future.”
VORONTSEVICH, ANDREY
CSKA Moscow
“This competition [between Fenerbahce and CSKA] is really one of the best in the league and Fenerbahce is a great team, but we prepared well. The last shot of Nando is a great shot by a great teammate. We had a lot of energy, worked hard, played hard, and I think it was revenge for our first match against Fenerbahce in our arena. Congratulations to my teammates and coach. My mindset was just to play my game, how I prepare every day, concentrate and try to fight and don’t give any chances to my opponents, who are great players and I respect them. We take it step by step every day towards our goal.”