In-form Fenerbahce extended their winning streak on the road to nine games with a 73-64 success over Olympiacos in Group F of the Euroleague Top 16.
This win, matched by CSKA Moscow’s 88-83 win over Anadolu Efes now makes it a three-way tie at the top of Group F as Fenerbahce, Olympiacos and CSKA all have 8-2 records.
It’s Fenerbahce who have the advantage in the group though as they own the head-to-heads over the two rival clubs in the race for first place.
“I am very proud of my players because they played an excellent game,” said Fenerbahce coach Zeljko Obradovic, who saw his side race clear in the fourth quarter behind a stunning display from Andrew Goudelock, who led the way with 24 points.
But despite breaking Olympiacos’ 14-game winning streak at home, Obradovic knows that there are more games left to play.
“There are four more games to play and nothing is decided yet,” he admits. “We are a team that plays much better on the road than at home. I see the home games as a trap. The most important thing is to make the quarterfinals and then try to win three games and advance to the Final four. This is exactly what I said to my players in practice, in order to make them more relaxed and finally it worked out.”
CSKA Moscow began the night with a narrow 88-83 success over Anadolu Efes and by the end of it, made Group F all the more interesting.
The Russian giants took control in the second quarter after falling behind 27-21 after one and they extended the advantage after three periods, which made the game relatively safe, despite late pressure from the visitors.
Milos Teodosic led CSKA with 20 points as the Muscovites were without the injured Andrei Kirilenko. Stratos Perperoglou and Dontaye Draper each had 14 for Anadolu, who drop to 4-6.
The other game in Group F saw EA7 Milano edge the basement battle with Unicaja Malaga 90-86 in the fashion capital.
Alessandro Gentile secured the win from the foul line for the hosts but they were made to work for the win as Unicaja stayed in touch throughout.
Gentile led the winners with 23 points as Milano go to 3-7. Samardo Samuels had 19 points plus 7 rebounds, while Caleb Green scored a career-high 22 points, including the Euroleague’s 500,000th point for Unicaja, who dropped to 2-8.
In Group E, Zalgiris breathed new life into their bid for a playoff place with a 76-70 win over Panathinaikos, whose slide down the table continues.
Will Cherry paced the Zalgiris attack with 18 points and Paulius Jankunas added 14 as the Lithuanian champions go to 4-6, while the Greeks, fronted by Nikkos Pappas’ 21 fall to 5-5.
