The center, playing in his sixth EuroLeague season, had his best performance to date in Round 18.
Joel Bolomboy led Zvezda to historic win at Fenerbahce on career-best night
Before the game, the picture didn’t look good for Crvena Zvezda Meridianbet Belgrade as it prepared to face Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul in Turkiye in Round 18 of the 2023-24 Turkish Airlines EuroLeague Regular Season. Yet, a Joel Bolomboy-inspired performance meant Zvezda was able to secure a lot of firsts on Tuesday night.
Not only was Zvezda’s 76-85 win at Fenerbahce its first win at Ulker Sports and Events Hall in nine visits, but it was also the first defeat suffered by the Turkish team at home this season and the first loss suffered anywhere since Saras Jasikevicius took charge of the team in mid-December. After all, Fenerbahce was 7-0 at home prior to Zvezda’s victory and 4-0 under Coach Jasikevicius, with two wins at home and two wins on the road.
Joel Bolomboy had a night to remember
A large reason behind those firsts is down to the play of Bolomboy, who exploded for a career-high 24 points and also posted a career-best 31 PIR. Curiously, both of Zvezda’s road wins this season – the team is now 2-8 on its travels this season – have seen personal-best nights from the 29-year-old big man.
Just a couple of weeks ago, on December 21, 2023, Bolomboy netted what was then a career-high 20 points as Zvezda beat Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv 92-98 in Belgrade. In that same game, he recorded a 24 PIR, which was his second-highest mark but is now his third-best total.
“It definitely feels good [to get career highs in points and PIR]. I actually scored my career high a couple of games ago, so I got a new career high,” commented Bolomboy after Zvezda’s win at Fenerbahce.
“It feels good, but more importantly it feels good to win and find consistency as a team, especially to get this road win. It’s our second road win of the season. The first road win we had was against Maccabi in Belgrade, so we don’t really count that as a road win, but we’ll take it.”
Against Fenerbahce on Tuesday night, the Turkish side’s trio of centers – Johnathan Motley, Sertac Sanli and Georgios Papagiannis – struggled to contain Bolomboy all night long. As such, the Zvezda center got off to a strong start with 9 points, before adding a further 7 points in the second. By halftime, his stats read: 16 points, 4 rebounds, 1 steal and 0 turnovers. Not bad at all.
Bolomboy was limited to 4 points and 1 rebound in the third quarter, then the same figures in the fourth quarter. But, he came up clutch with some free throws, finishing 8-of-9 on the night, and ended with a +4 in the plus/minus column. Without his efforts, it’s hard to imagine Zvezda coming away with its Round 18 win.
Mike Tobey gave Bolomboy a bit of a chance for a breather, but head coach Ioannis Sfairopoulos didn’t hesitate to bring the six-year EuroLeague veteran back into the game at the earliest opportunity. Freddie Gillespie also came off the bench to his debut for Zvezda, but he only featured for 2:48 minutes.
Looking ahead to the Belgrade derby against Partizan Mozzart Bet Belgrade on Thursday night, Zvezda will need a similar performance from Bolomboy if it is to upset its cross-city neighbor. But, Coach Sfairopoulos’s squad certainly took a big step in the right direction on Tuesday night, which should be a warning to Partizan.