By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
With 1.7 seconds to go in the EuroLeague Game of the Week, James Nunnally hit 1/2 from the free throw line and it proved to be more than enough to hand Fenerbahce victory over Real Madrid 78 – 77.
Perhaps not the ideal manner for such fascinating game to end, but quite possibly fitting that the battle between these two powerhouses was resolved by one of the top players of the game, in what was his best performance in this season’s EuroLeague.
Nunnally led all scorers with a personal season-high 18 points (4/5 two-point shots, 3/4 3-pointers) to go with his 5 rebounds and 2 assists. On the other side, Anthony Randolph was immense for Real Madrid, dropping 16 points (13 in the fourth quarter) on a perfect 6/6 from the field.
But his efforts, that were responsible for keeping Real Madrid in hot pursuit of Fenerbahce for the majority of the last period weren’t enough. They might have been, if Carroll didn’t make a totally unnecessary foul on Nunnally. an action that led to the latter’s decisive’s free throws.
Before firing from all corners, Randolph was partially responsible for the “Blancos” claiming the lead, 40 – 39 at halftime after trailing 23 – 19 at the end of the first quarter. He was a part of an ultra-defensive squad, Pablo Laso picked with him, Sergio Llull, Rudy Fernandez and Jeff Taylor that managed to shut down the rampant Fener machine. Oh and part of the group was also Othello Hunter who dropped all his 12 points in the first twenty minutes.
Sergio Llull was the one to pace Real Madrid with 14 points and 8 assists but shot 0/6 from beyond the arc. Apart from Nunnally, Ekpe Udoh registered a double-double of 14 points and 10 rebounds while Kostas Sloukas did a solid job before getting ejected after his second technical foul, finishing with 11 points plus 6 assists.