Shorthanded Fenerbahce ease past Olympiacos after Bartzokas ejection / News - Basketnews.com

Credit: Tolga Adanali/Euroleague Basketball via Getty Images Credit Tolga Adanali/Euroleague Basketball via Getty Images

Twelve days' Turkish Airlines EuroLeague break, longest since 2012, ended as Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul (8-10) took on Olympiacos Piraeus (12-6) at home.

Player of the Game EFF 19 Pierria Henry Points 11 Accuracy 4-7 Rebounds 3 Assists 8

The hosts overcame Oly 94-80 (11-17, 25-22, 30-20, 28-21) and recovered from the setback in the last EuroLeague match against ASVEL.

Marko Guduric, Jehyve Floyd, and Metecan Birsen's successful buckets opened the decisive quarter and extended Fenerbahce's run to 11-0 (74-59). Clubs were trading baskets but Melih Mahmutoglu's three-pointers and Achille Polonara's alley-oop layup closed the deal for the Turks (84-65).

Fenerbahce's key to success was shots from behind the arc. They made 15 three-pointers tonight, that was their season-high.

Pierria Henry was the best individual in his team, finishing the game with 11 points (4/4 2PT, 0/3 3PT, 3/3 FT), 3 rebounds, 8 assists, 1 steal, 2 turnovers, 3 drawn fouls, and 19 PIR.

However, the Senegalese point guard was forced to leave the court, picking up the injury with 3:37 to go.

"Thanks to [Pierria] Henry [for playing] because yesterday he was in some pain, but today he didn't stop fighting because in this situation it is not easy for us to practice and play games. For the last 15 days, we didn't play a game. Okay, for the other team also, but for us, Nando [De Colo] and Jan Vesely are out. Now Pierria has something, not serious, but today he did a very good job," Melih Mahmutoglu said.

"The energy level was okay. This win is really important for us. I don't know [about Henry's injury]. That's my biggest worry right now. He had a hit yesterday in practice. Nevertheless, he wanted to play. He played, he is a really good point guard," added Sasa Djordjevic after the duel.

Points this season

49%76,9Points made:76,9Accuracy:49,1%Place in standings:9Record max:96Record min:43Best scorer:Jan VeselyTeamEuroLeagueStatisticsSchedule

Kostas Sloukas was the top performer for Olympiacos, registering 14 points (1/4 2PT, 2/4 3PT, 6/7 FT), 5 rebounds, 7 assists, 4 steals, 3 turnovers, 6 drawn fouls, and 23 PIR.

"For sure they were better than us. They deserve the win. They played more physically, they put more pressure, and obviously, offensively we were not able to cope with this pressure," Olympiacos assistant Cristos Pappas commented.

Both teams began the rainfall of treys in the third quarter. First, Sehmus Hazer, Devin Booker, and Achille Polonara were nailing three after three, arranging a 14-5 spurt (50-44), while Tyler Dorsey answered with a couple of bombs from deep on the other end (50-52).

Though, Olympiacos made 5 turnovers in a row and Fenerbahce used the chaos to break away from their rivals (66-59) before the last period. Dyshawn Pierre hit a three-pointer from the logo at the buzzer.

The game went neck-on-neck in the first half (36-39). However, the emotional momentum changed when Georgios Bartzokas was ejected from the game with 2:56 left in the second quarter. He dedicated his timeout for disputes with the match referees. The latter did not hold back and gave two technicals for Bartzokas.

That was his first ejection this season before that Greek coach got only one technical foul in 17 EuroLeague games. Bartzokas was sent off twice last season: January 28, 2021, against FC Barcelona and December 3, 2020, versus CSKA Moscow.

That was the first Fenerbahce EL game without De Colo & Vesely this season. Both or at least one of them was on the 15 most frequently used Fener's lineups this year.

Marial Shayok and Danilo Barthel also missed the game for the Turkish squad.

Fenerbahce: Melih Mahmutoglu 17 (4/5 3PT), Achille Polonara 15 (7 REB, 18 PIR), Dyshawn Pierre 14 (4 REB, 4 AST), Devin Booker 12 (6 REB, 5 AST, 18 PIR), Marko Guduric 11 (5 AST), Pierria Henry 11 (8 AST).

Olympiacos: Kostas Sloukas 14 (5 REB, 7 AST, 4 STL, 3 TO), Tyler Dorsey 14 (5 REB, 7 TO), Kostas Papanikolaou 12 (4 AST), Georgios Printezis 12, Hassan Martin 10.

Highlights

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