Tarik Biberovic's career scoring night paced Fenerbahce to a Game 2 victory
Fenerbahce downs Paris, 89-72, to take 2-0 lead in series

Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul took another step forward towards reaching the 2025 Turkish Airlines EuroLeague Final Four in Abu Dhabi after thrashing Paris Basketball 89-72 in Game 2 of their best-of-five series on Thursday. Saras Jasikevicius's men now have a 2-0 lead against Paris and need just one more win to qualify to the next round. Paris is in a do-or-die situation and hosts Game 3 on Tuesday.
Tarik Biberovic led the winners with a career-high 20 points. Nigel Hayes-Davis added 16, Marko Guduric had 13 while Wade Baldwin got 11 for Fenerbahce. TJ Shorts led Paris with 18 points. Nadir Hifi added 15 and Tyson Ward 10 for the guests.
Game Videos
Shorts needed just 19 seconds to find his first points before feeding Kevarrius Hayes for a backdoor layup. Guduric answered from downtown, then Bonzie Colson erased Shorts's driving layup with a big basket in transition for a 5-6 Fenerbahce deficit. Colson took over with a four-point play and Hayes-Davis scored in penetration to cap a 10-0 run that gave Fenerbahe a 12-6 edge. Hayes-Davis kept pacing Fenerbahce, Hifi followed a layup with a jumper and Bandja Sy's tip-in kept Paris within 16-12. Hayes-Davis and Yakuba Ouattara each struck from beyond the arc, as did Biberovic for a 22-15 score. Ward scored off a steal that Hall improved with a corner triple. Ward got help from Shorts to bring Paris closer, 25-20. Biberovic hit a mid-range jumper which Hall followed with a driving layup for a 29-20 Fenerbahce lead after 10 minutes.
Hayes hit a jump hook early in the second quarter, then Ward bettered Dyshawn Pierre's layup with a step-back triple for a 31-25 Paris deficit. Biberovic and a red-hot Ward traded baskets before Shorts's driving layup made it a four-point game, 33-29. Baldwin scored off a spin move and banked in a three-pointer to restore a 38-29 Fenerbahce lead. Mikael Jantunen stepped up with a tip-in that Hayes-Davis matched with a layup. Shorts rescued Paris, but Biberovic hit an off-balance shot and followed Nicolo Melli's dunk with a bomb from downtown that made it a double-digit game, 47-36. Guduric and Jantunen exchanged layups before Melli's triple boosted the hosts' lead to 52-38. Melli hit a jumper, then Guduric's layup broke the game open 56-38. Errick McCollum downed a jumper before Hayes-Davis made it a 23-point game, 61-38, at halftime.
Hall struck from downtown soon after the break, capping a 15-1 Fenerbahce run. Shorts took over with an up-and-under layup and soon brought Paris a bit closer, 64-43. Biberovic scored in penetration and Shorts banked in a close shot. Biberovic kept pacing Fenerbahce but didn't find much help. Meanwhile, Hifi and Ouattara kept Paris within 68-49. Biberovic ignited he crowd with a big three-pointer, Collin Malcolm scored at the other end and Hifi's triple gave the guests hope at 72-54. Jantunen hit one from beyond the arc, Baldwin answered with a baseline jumper and beat the third-quarter buzzer with a turnaround shot that restored a 76-57 Fenerbahce lead.
Shorts stepped up with a driving layup early in the fourth quarter. Jantunen added a put-back basket for a 76-61 score with 8 minutes left. Fenerbahce kept struggling to score until Guduric took over with a wild reverse layup. Hayes-Davis dunked off a spin move and added a one-handed floater in the lane that sealed the outcome, 82-62, with less than 6 minutes remaining. Paris kept trying but it was already too little, too late for coach Tiago Splitter's team. Meanwhile, Fenerbahce fans had plenty of time to celebrate a crucial win in dominant fashion!