Fenerbahce outlasted Darussafaka Dogus 106-100 in a free-scoring battle of Istanbul in the Euroleague Top 16, Group E.
It looked like Fenerbahce would cruise to the win, as they had built a 19-point lead in the third quarter. But their cross town rivals stormed back in the final ten minutes, led by Luke Harangody, narrowing the gap to 103-100.
Bobby Dixon though iced the contest from the foul to keep Fenerbahce’s undefeated streak in the Top 16 going, and leave Darussafaka searching for their first win.
Dixon ended with 24 points to lead the victors.
“They played very hard and they stayed in the game until the very end of regulation,” said Fenerbahce’s Jan Vesely, who added 16 points and 13 rebounds said.
“They were very tough. From our point we just stopped playing towards the end of the game.”
Three triples late on from Marko Simonovic lifted Crvena Zvezda to an 87-73 win over Unicaja Malaga in Belgrade in the other Group E clash.
Both teams are sandwiched between group leaders Fenerbahce and bottom side Darussafaka Dogus with 2-2 records as Stefan Jovic led the winners with 15 points but Simonovic’s late heroics ensured a win.
In Group F, Zalgiris stunned Olympiacos with a convincing 75-55 win in Kaunas.
The Lithuanian giants trailed 18-17 after the first period but stormed clear in the second, holding Olympiacos to just nine points in the second to lead 33-27 at the half and eventually pull clear.
“Of course, you don’t expect things like this,” Zalgiris head coach Sarunas Jasikevicius said. “But I think we had a plan and we executed it. In some places we got lucky; in some places we were good. That’s the way it goes, you know. It’s unbelievable.”
Paulius Jankunas led the winners with 18 points as Zalgiris claim their first win in the Top 16 this season and Olympiacos drop to 2-2.
The other Group F game saw Khimki see off Brose Baskets 78-61 in Moscow.
Alexey Shved hit a game-high 22 points for the Russian side as they improve to 3-1 in the pool with Bamberg dropping to 2-2.
