By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
Kostas Sloukas scored 12 out of his 22 points in the fourth quarter, leading Fenerbahce Beko to a comeback from 13 points down against Barcelona and the 88 – 82 win.
After draining the go-ahead bucket for the 79 – 77, Sloukas dished out his 11th assist in the game by dropping a dime to Melih Mahmutoglu for a key corner 3-pointer that made it 84 – 78 with 22 seconds remaining. Chris Singleton scored 3/3 free throws after getting fouled on a 3-point attempt but Fenerbahce preserved a two-possession distance thanks to a 4/4 trip to the line by Gigi Datome in the final seconds.
“In the second half we had just 4 turnovers, and we had 4 steals. For them it was absolutely different, they had 9 turnovers and 1 steal. That’s the first thing. That means aggressiveness, desire, and I am really proud how we changed the game in the last 10 minutes,” Fenerbahce coach Zeljko Obradovic said.
Top-placed Fenerbahce improved to 22 – 4. Barcelona, that was coached by Ricard Casas after Svetislav Pesic’s ejection one minute into the match, dropped to 15 – 11. The Blaugrana remain at the sixth spot.
Thanks to Jaka Blazic (15 points) Barcelona reacted after its head coach’s ejection and after halftime controlled the third period 15 – 23 to reach the final quarter up 52 – 61. But then Sloukas took over with consecutive baskets. He made 5/5 triples en route to his 22 points overall, contributing to the record-tying number of 17 3-pointers made.
Fener also set a club record in EuroLeague for 3-point attempts with 38. Fitting, considering that Houston Rockets GM Daryl Morey was in attendance.
Bobby Dixon added 19 points (4/6 3-pointers) for Fenerbahce. Ante Tomic had 12 points and five rebounds and four assists while Chris Singleton scored 12 for Barcelona.
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