By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
Brad Wanamaker posted a season-high 31 in PIR after scoring 18 points, dishing out 8 assists and grabbing 4 rebounds, leading Fenerbahce to an 89 – 84 victory in the All-Turkish EuroLeague clash for Round 19 of the regular season.
One humongous performance by Toney Douglas wasn’t enough for Efes. The American guard scored 21 out of his EuroLeague career-high 29 points in the fourth quarter but his team, that trailed for the majority of the game, didn’t manage to cut its deficit to more than a five-point margin near the end.
This result improved the record of Fenerbahce to 13 – 6 while dropping Efes to 5 – 14. Coach Ergin Ataman’s team now has zero hopes of making it to the playoffs.
Efes had gotten off to a fine 10 – 0 start but after a timeout by Zeljko Obradovic, everything changed. Fenerbahce tied the score and got a 46 – 35 halftime lead, mainly thanks to a red-hot Melih Mahmutoglu (16 points).
Despite Errick McCollum‘s efforts (18 points), Fenerbahce preserved a solid advantage with Wanamaker, Nicolo Melli (14 points, 7 rebounds), Jan Vesely (12 points) and Marko Guduric (12 points) doing work.
Douglas’ action in the fourth wasn’t enough for Efes that also played minus Round 17 MVP Zoran Dragic who was fouled out with nine minutes remaining after scoring 9 points and dishing out 5 assists.