Kazan Halts Efes Run In Euroleague, Fener Clinches Road Victory

Fenerbahçe Ülker snatched an impressive 80-74 road win over EA7 Emporio Armani Milan in its Euroleague Group C outing to boost its Top 16 chances on Thursday night. Elsewhere, Anadolu Efes failed to last against Unics Kazan on the road as coach Dusan Ivkovic's side lost 67-64 in round six of the Euroleague on the same day.

With Milan focused on stopping Euroleague top scorer Andrew Goudelock of Fenerbahçe, Ricky Hickman assumed the scoring job and hit 14 points for the winners. Semih Erden netted 12 and Nemanja Bjelica added 11. Morshon Brook tallied 17 for Milan.

Fenerbahçe had a strong start and took a 16-9 edge halfway through the first quarter, while a triple by David Moss gave Milan a 23-21 advantage at the end of it. Hickman and Jan Vesely helped Fenerbahçe get the upper hand and maintain it as the visitors took a 44-37 lead at halftime. Coach Zeljko Obradovic's men extended the margin in the third quarter, while Milan hoped to stay in the game with Brook. But it was in vain, with Fenerbahçe moving up 62-49 going into the last 10 minutes. Milan started its comeback campaign in the fourth quarter and reduced the margin to four points with one minute left to the buzzer: 74-70. However with their free throws, Bjelica and Hickman sealed the deal for Fenerbahçe: 80-74.

The İstanbul club improved their record to 4-2, and Milan stayed at 2-4.

Fenerbahçe coach Obradovic was not pleased with their performance, saying they had ups and downs during the game. The Serbian coach said in his post-game remarks that they played a good defense in the third quarter.

Obradovic's side is set to face PGE Turow Zgorzelec of Poland in round seven.

In Kazan, Keith Langford was the man to bring Unics Kazan back in the game and led his side to this important victory in terms of the club's chances to make it through the Top 16 in the competition. Langford netted 19 points for Kazan. Croatian forward Dario Saric scored 13 points and Doğuş Balbay added 11 in defeat.

Efes' Ivkovic said after the game that he did not like their performance in the final quarter. "Efes was the better-playing side in the first three quarters. We were controlling the game, but later we gave up on defense," he said.

There was a close competition at the beginning of the match in Kazan. Balbay kept the visiting side close with his points. Efes eventually got a 18-14 edge with Milko Bjelica scoring from behind the arc in the first quarter. A Stephane Lasme layup extended the margin to eight in the second quarter. Even though Kazan reduced the deficit to two, the hosts failed to catch Efes. Ivkovic's men later nailed a 7-0 run and a three-pointer by Nemanja Bjelica handed Efes a 34-28 lead at halftime.

Matt Janning opened the third quarter with a triple and later added a layup to give his side a double-digit margin, 41-28. His three pointer on the buzzer ended the third quarter 53-43 in Efes' favor. There was a completely different atmosphere in the fourth quarter. Kazan had a storming start, and a triple by Langford put the hosts 56-55 ahead halfway through the quarter. The efforts of the visiting side to restore its advantage were fruitless as Kazan completed its perfect comeback with a 67-64 win at home.

(Cihan/Today's Zaman)