Fenerbahçe Beko lost 79-68 away to Greek team Olympiacos in the first match of the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague Play-Off series and fell back 1-0 in the series. While Sasha Vezenkov was the top scorer of the match with 19 points in the home team, Johnathan Motley’s 15 points in Fenerbahçe Beko could not prevent the defeat.
Fenerbahce, who started the match well and was effective with Hayes-Davis, was ahead 7-4 in the first 3 minutes. After this minute, the home team, which was effective in the open field, scored 8-0 with Walkup and brought the score to 12-7. After this minute, the yellow-dark blue team recovered in both offense and defense and took the lead with 1.27 left of the period with Calathes’ effective offensive play: 16-17. Maintaining its superiority in the remaining division, Fenerbahçe finished the first period ahead 21-19.
Both teams started the second period with effective defense. The home team, who could only score 2 points in the first 3 minutes of the period, held on to the score with Larentzakis and McKissic, who came from the side in the next section. Responding to his opponent with Guduric, Fenerbahçe led the last 4 minutes of the first half by 5 points: 26-31. After this minute, the home team regained the lead with three-pointers from Vezenkov and Papanikolaou and closed the first half ahead 37-35.
Fenerbahce started the third period with good defense. The yellow-dark blue team, which gave its opponent 2 points in the first 3 minutes, could not prevent the gap from being widened by the rhythm of their opponent after this minute. The home team increased the lead to 6 with Vezenkov’s basket with 4.43 left to play and let his opponent take the time-out: 49-43. After the time-out, the home team hit three-pointers in a row with Canaan and Vezenkov, increasing the lead to double digits for the first time in the match: 60-49. Protecting the difference in the last section, Olympiacos entered the decision period 63-51 ahead.
The yellow-dark blue team, which entered the last period effectively, caught the 7-0 series in less than 2 minutes with the numbers they found from Guduric and Motley, reducing the difference to 5: 63-58. After this minute, the home team regained the advantage of the game, found a 7-0 series with Sloukas’ effective offensive play and increased the lead to double digits with 5.15 left: 70-58. Maintaining the difference in the remaining part, the home team won the parquet 79-68 and brought the situation to 1-0 in the series.
The second match of the series will be played on Friday, April 28 at 21.30, at the Peace and Friendship Hall, hosted by Olympiacos.
HERE’S THE SUMMARY OF THE MATCH