Poirier lifts Real to fourth victory

In a thriller that came down to the final shot, Real Madrid remained undefeated at home after edging Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul 70-69 in the Spanish capital on Thursday. Real improved to 4-1 in the standings while Fenerbahce dropped to 2-3. Vincent Poirier became the game's hero with the go-ahead free throws with 10.7 seconds left and set a Real club record with 17 rebounds. Fabien Causeur added 16 points while Thomas Heurtel had 10 for Real, which was without Edy Tavares and Sergio Llull. Tavares missed the game to be with his wife at the birth of their child. Nando De Colo led Fenerbahce with 11 points and Jan Vesely had 10. Without Tavares, Fenerbahce got its big men involved early in the game, as Achille Polonara, Vesely and Ahmet Duverioglu gave the visitors a 10-15 lead after 10 minutes. An outstanding Achille Polonara helped Fenerbahce make it a double-digit game, 20-30. Fabien Causeur struck three times from beyond the arc to bring Real back to life, 35-41, at halftime. Causeur kept pushing Real and got help from Carlos Alocen and Rudy Fernandez to get the hosts closer, 50-52, after 30 minutes. De Colo gave Fenerbahce a 66-69 lead already in the final minute but Causeur scored in penetration, Poirier added free throws and Real held on.

Vesely got Fenerbahce going with a layup in transition and a floater, but Adam Hanga and Thomas Heurtel each struck from downtown for a 6-4 Real lead. Polonara stepped up for the visitors, DyShawn Pierre hit a triple and Devin Booker dunked. Alberto Abalde drew Los Blancos within 10-12. The visitors continued to excel on defense and found a new go-to guy in Duverioglu, who helped Fenerbahce to a 10-15 margin after 10 minutes.

Sehmus Hazer scored off a steal early in the second quarter and Melih Mahmutoglu bettered Eli Ndiaye's tip-in with a three-pointer for a 12-20 Fenerbahce lead. Abalde and Nigel Williams-Goss each answered from beyond the arc, but Polonara struck twice from downtown and got help from Mahmutoglu and Vesely to make it a double-digit game, 20-30. Causeur hit a triple and Williams-Goss added a jumper off the dribble, but Booker, Marial Shayok and Pierria Henry each scored around the basket, prompting Real to call timeout at 25-36. Guerschon Yabusele scored in the paint and Causeur downed consecutive three-pointers to bring Real closer, 35-41, at halftime.

Real was held scoreless for almost 3 minutes until Heurtel buried a one-handed floater in the lane. Meanwhile, De Colo and Henry restored a 37-46 Fenerbahce lead. Adam Hanga ignited the crowd with a rainbow three-pointer, Alocen found his first points and Fernandez struck from way downtown to bring Real within 45-48. Booker scored down low and Hazer added a driving layup that gave Fenerbahce fresh air at 45-52. Alocen found space for an uncontested driving basket and Causeur beat the third-quarter buzzer with a huge triple, 50-52.

Henry hit a jumper early in the fourth quarter and De Colo scored off a steal for a 50-56 Fenerbahce lead. Jeffery Taylor downed his trademark corner triple and Vincent Poirier matched De Colo's layup with a dunk. Alocen buried a three-pointer and Fernandez bettered Mahmutoglu's fallaway jumper with a wild bomb from downtown for a 61-60 Real lead. Duverioglu scored in penetration but Alocen and Poirier helped the hosts regain the lead at 64-62. Vesely scored off an inbounds pass and Henry sank a critical triple for a 64-67 Fenerbahce lead in the next-to-last minute. Heurtel and De Colo exchanged free throws and Causeur's driving layup made it 68-69 with 31.0 seconds left. Henry missed from downtown and Fenerbahce fouled Poirier with 10.7 seconds left. He made both attempts and Shayok missed a three-point shot at the buzzer.

Poirier sets Real record

Real Madrid center Vincent Poirier set a club record for most rebounds in the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague. Poirier pulled down 17 rebounds in his team's 70-69 victory against Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul - 11 of them in the defensive end. Edy Tavares, who missed the game to be with his wife at the birth of their child, had the previous record with 16 rebounds against Panathinaikos OPAP Athens on March 28, 2019. Poirier did much more than just rebound, however, as he also hit the go-ahead free throws with 10.7 seconds left, which allowed Real to register its fourth victory.

Real uses threes, rebounds to win

Real Madrid and Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul played a physical, intense game that came down to the last shot. Fenerbahce had a much higher team PIR (80) than its opponent (67) and shot the ball with higher percentages inside (54.8% 2FG, Real 43.5%) and outside the arc (40.0% 3FG, Real 36.1%). Real, however, pulled down 14 offensive rebounds, twice as many as Fenerbahce, which was limited to 7. Vincent Poirier pulled down 6 of his club-record 17 boards on the offensive end. That allowed Real Madrid to take 36 three-point shots, of which it made 13. Fenerbahce buried just 6 and despite having a better percentage, it was one of the keys to the game.

Eli Ndiaye joins list of homegrown talents

Real Madrid youngster Eli Ndiaye made his Turkish Airlines EuroLeague debut in his team's showdown against Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul. By doing so, Ndiaye became the 12th homegrown talent to play in the EuroLeague for Los Blancos since head coach Pablo Laso joined the team before the start of the 2011-12 season. Luka Doncic, the 2017-18 EuroLeague MVP and 2018 Final Four MVP, and Usman Garuba, the 2020-21 EuroLeague Rising Star award winner, lead a list that also includes Dani Diez, Alberto Martin, Willy Hernangomez, Santi Yusta, Jonathan Barreiero, Dino Radoncic, Melwin Pantzar, Mario Nakic and Tristan Vukcevic.