The Turkish giant stole victory from the jaws of defeat
Nigel Hayes-Davis the hero as Fenerbahce beats Paris, 101-100, to make playoffs

Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul wrapped up its place in the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague Playoffs in style by beating Paris Basketball 101-100 on a game-winning three-pointer by Nigel Hayes-Davis. Paris star TJ Shorts looked as though he had given his side the victory when he scored a layup with two seconds remaining to set a 98-100 score, but Hayes-Davis caused the roof to come off Ulker Sport and Event Hall with his triple.
Marko Guduric led Fenerbahce in scoring with 25 points. Hayes-Davis ended the night with 19 points, with Errick McCollum pouring in 18 and Tarik Biberovic adding 14. Paris, which could only suit 10 players due to its injury crisis, had Shorts and Nadir Hifi both net 19 points, while Mikael Jantunen had 14, Yakuba Ouattara 13, Kevarrius Hayes 12, and Sebastian Herrera 11.
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Despite being without Collin Malcolm, Maodo Lo, Daulton Hommes and Leon Kratzer, Paris had a solid start to the first quarter and led 2-7 after scores by Jantunen, Shorts and Ward. Fenerbahce tied it back up at 7-7 thanks to Guduric and Biberovic, but Paris was the more impressive side in the early going, getting contributions from a number of players. Herrera, Hifi and Ouattara ensured Paris had the lead before Jantunen and Tyson Ward forced Fenerbahce to call a timeout at 14-20. Shorts drained a mid-range jumper to ensure it was 17-24 in Paris’s favor after the first frame.
Guduric tried to inspire Fenerbahce’s response with five points early in the second, but Jantunen, Hayes and Ward combined to open the first double-digit lead of the night at 22-23. The hosts were struggling to keep a lid on the visitors’ offense, and Hifi caused a real headache for coach Saras Jasikevicius with a couple of tough scores before going 6 for 6 on two trips to the line, 37-49. An 8-2 end to the half for Fenerbahce, capped by Guduric’s push shot that beat the end-of-quarter buzzer, made it 44-51 at the break.
Herrera’s corner three got the third quarter underway, 44-54, as Paris restored its double-digit advantage. Shorts and Hayes kept finding ways to put points on the board, too, with the visitors going up by 15 points for the first time at 48-63. Wade Baldwin scored six points in a hurry for Fenerbahce, 54-63, but Ouattara and Hifi struck from beyond the arc to open a 15-point gap again, 54-69. Ouattara also hit from deep again at 57-72. All the momentum was in the visitors’ favor, and Hifi’s three beat the shot-clock buzzer with three seconds to go as Paris took a 71-84 edge into the final period.
After setting a club record by netting 84 points through the first three quarters, Paris went cold at the worst time possible. McCollum’s three gave the Fenerbahce fans hope at 74-84, and that started an 18-2 run as the hosts flipped the game on its head. The three-ball was particularly effective, as that McCollum triple was followed by one for Guduric, another for McCollum, two in a row by Hayes-Davis, who finished the run by scoring inside. Hayes-Davis’s second three tied it up at 86-86, then he completed the comeback at 88-86. Paris wasn’t going away, though, and got some big baskets by Ward and Ouattara, with the French side leading 93-98 with 1:05 minutes left. Baldwin’s runner and Biberovic’s three tied it up at 98-98, but Shorts thought he’d scored the game-winner with two seconds left. But Hayes-Davis’s three-pointer at the buzzer wrapped up the victory.