Wade Baldwin stood out for the winners with 18 points
Fenerbahce finishes perfect November with victory over Virtus
Game Report
3 Mins read
Regular Season
Round 13 of 38
Regular Season
Fenerbahce Beko IstanbulFBB
6664
Virtus BolognaVIR
Overview
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“This team has been through a little bit of adversity, so coming out of November with perfection, heading into the break is a morale booster, an upward swing for this team,” stated Wade Baldwin, minutes after he led his Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul team to a 66-64 win over Virtus Bologna.
The nail-biting victory moves the reigning champion Fenerbahce to 8-5 for the season, marks its fifth win on the bounce and bolsters the hopes of a title defense. After falling to 3-5 to start the season, a 5-0 record in the month of November has turned the tide for Saras Jasikevicius and his men. The Lithuanian coach was a little surprised by the style of game that played out.
“We expected a very difficult game, we didn’t expect such a difficult and ugly game,” Jasikevicius said. “But when you go home with a win, it makes everything better.”
As he mentioned, the crowd at Ulker Sports and Event Hall was not treated to an aesthetically pleasing contest. Defense won out, as the game remained cagey throughout, with both teams struggling to put the ball in the hole, but locking in on the other side of the floor. The game remained close until the nail-biting final moments, when a Nicolo Melli tip-in clinched the 2-point victory.
Baldwin stood out with 18 points to drag his team over the line. He was also the only winning player to reach double figures, but Devon Hall backed him up with 9 points of his own, all scored from beyond the arc.
The result was tough on Virtus's Matt Morgan, who offered a 13-point scoring punch from the bench. Their primary offensive weapon, Carsen Edwards, struggled from the field, making just 3 of his 16 attempts. The loss makes it five road losses in a row for Virtus, as it slips to 6-7.
The score was uncharacteristically low for both teams and Baldwin alluded to a potential reason for that – schedule fatigue.
“It’s very tiring,” Baldwin said. “The competition has gotten tougher, with the schedule, adding two teams. An undefeated November was exactly what we needed, after a shaky start.”
Jasikevicius seemed to agree but appeared enthused by the way his team gutted this one out. “We have a couple of days to regroup, refresh and hopefully keep working, keep getting better. Third game in five days, legs were not there, it’s one of those games in a 10-month season, where you have to dig deep, find a way and the guys did.”
As they enjoy their well-earned rest, both teams can’t afford to get too comfortable. Fenerbahce is set to travel to Greece to face Olympiacos Piraeus next Thursday, while Virtus will face off against Dubai Basketball the following evening.
