Curtis Jerrells stars as Fenerbahce Ulker rout Olympiacos 86-70: Euroleague Recap
Last time when Fenerbahce Ulker and Olympiacos met on 27th October 2011, the later one had the last laugh.
However on Thursday night, the Turkish giants avenged their loss by routing Olympiacos 86-70 to make it even and also improve their chances of reaching the top 16 of the Turkish Airlines Euroleague.
Curtis Jerrells paced the winners with 17 points including 5 for 9 from the paint and accurate 4 for 4 from the charity stripe. Roko Ukic pounded 16, forced 3 rebounds and dished out 2 assists while Omer Onan accumulated 11.
For Olympiacos, Kyle Hines scored 14 points on 6 for 9 from the free throw line and pulled down 7 rebounds. He was only assisted by Kalin Lucas, who chipped in with 13 as other players failed to crop a decent tally.
After the game, a disappointed Hines said that absence of power players due to injuries played a major role in the loss but boldly accepted that his team was beaten by a better side.
“Today we had a big chance to win but couldn’t play good enough. Compared to previous weeks, we were better but wasn’t enough from the side of defense and offense. Fenerbahce Ulker was way better. Fenerbahce is a team, and a good
team. We need to improve and need to play better in the Caja Laboral game. Plus, we need to continue play better in the Greek League. Papadopoulos and other injuries were the key players and their absence affected us but this isn’t an excuse.”
Neither team dominated the first quarter as lead kept on shifting from one side to the other. By the end, Olympiacos were ahead by 1 point 17-16. An early second quarter 5-0 burst, led by Martynas Gecevicius and Hines added more
weight to Olympiacos lead as it reached 22-17. However, Ulker pulled back by scoring quickly to eliminate the lead and level it at 31 all.
Ulker continued the attack and reeled off a 10-2 burst, led by Roko and Omer late in the second frame to close the first half in their favour at 42-36.
Early in the second half, back to back layups by Olympiacos helped them in slashing the deficit to 42-40 but their impoverished defence in the next few minutes allowed Fenerbahce to bolt a 10-0 run that helped them in turning the
game in their favour.
Olympiacos however, fixed the error and displayed solid defence to hold the Ulker until the end of the third frame and got as close as 57-54 by the end of it.
A 9-4 run marshalled by Onan and Curtis put Ulker in a commanding position right from the start of deciding frame at 66-58. Although Olympiacos fought hard, they never managed to threaten. The closest they managed to get was 72-66
with 4 minutes remaining.
The Greeks needed a special performance from there to get ahead and win the game, however it was the Turks who capped the game with a 10-2 spurt.
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