By Antonis Stroggylakis / astroggylakis@eurohoops.net
ABU DHABI– One year ago in Berlin, Fenerbahce finished fourth. The story was different this time.
Fenerbahce got its second EuroLeague trophy by beating Monaco 81-70.
Marco Guduric scored 19 points, Nigel Hayes-Davis had 22 points, Devon Hall and Wade Baldwin added 13 points, and Fenerbahce made things happen.
Sarunas Jasikevicius won the EuroLeague both as a coach and as a player, just the fourth member of a very short list with this achievement, leading the Turkish club to the title for the first time after the Zeljko Obradovic era.
Alpha Diallo had 19 points, Mike James added 17, Matthew Strazel scored 13, and Daniel Theis had 12, but when it was all said and done, it was not enough.
Three balanced quarters
Monaco opened the game with a 13-4 run and closed the first quarter up by two (20-18). Fenerbahce got the lead (21-20) with a three by Wade Baldwin, however, Monaco reacted swiftly with a 9-0 run (29-21).
With five minutes left in the second period, Monaco continued the push and, with a 14-4 partial score, took a 35-33 halftime lead.
It was all about defense, with Monaco scoring just 13 points in the second quarter, and Alpha Diallo, with 12 points, was the only scorer in double digits after the first 20 minutes of action.
Fenerbahce opened the second half with a three by Marko Guduric (38-33), Monaco still took the lead back (43-42), albeit momentarily, and the game turned into a dogfight.
A three by Hayes-Davis gave Fenerbahce a 54-51 advantage, in the 10th lead change of the game at the end of the third period.
Crunch time
That shot was a sign for things to come, as Fenerbahce went for the kill.
The Turkish side opened the last period with eight unanswered points (62-51). Guduric pushed the lead to 10 (65-55), and Devon Hall with a big three to 11 (68-57), just three minutes and 34 seconds before the final buzzer.
Baldwin was ejected with an unsportsmanlike foul after getting a technical foul earlier, with the score 68-61.
Alpha Diallo fouled out in the next play, and with two minutes left, Matthew Strazel with a big three cut the lead to five (69-64).
Guduric’s answer was two crucial free throws (71-64) and a huge three (74-64), deciding the outcome with one minute left.