Fenerbahce outlasts Monaco in OT thriller

In an thriller to open Round 20, host Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul weathered several comebacks by AS Monaco to finally prevail 98-94 in overtime on Thursday for its third consecutive victory. This one broke part of a second-place tie between four teams, leaving Fenerbahce 13-7 while Monaco fell to 12-8. As a bonus, Fenerbahce swept their season series 2-0 to take a tie-break advantage if needed later in the season.
Monaco's last of several runs in the game was 0-8 over the last 2 minutes of the fourth quarter to force overtime, where Fener got it right despite continued pressure from the visitors thanks to Nigel Hayes-Davis making big plays and Marko Guduric making sure at the foul line. The winners got 21 points from Scottie Wilbekin, 18 from Hayes-Davis and 17 each from Guduric and Johnathan Motley. Mike James pumped in 23 points, Yakuba Ouattara 19 and Alpha Diallo 13 for Monaco.
Game Videos
Devin Booker's 2 early triples and a slam by Hayes-Davis had Fenerbahce looking comfortable at 14-8 before a 0-9 Monaco run built on James, Donatas Motiejunas and offensive rebounds helped the visitors tie 20-20 after one quarter. Fenerbahce went back in front 27-22 before Ouattara broke the bank with 3 three-pointers in as many tries to flip the scoreboard to 30-43 in Monaco's favor before settling at a 39-47 halftime difference.
By late in the third quarter, with Motley restoring some serious inside presence for Fenerbahce after his first-half foul trouble, the hosts climbed back to go ahead 57-55. But they needed Wilbekin's second straight end-of-quarter basket to tie 60-60 after three quarters. Outtara lifted Monaco in front 60-66 early in the fourth, but Guduric, Motley and Hayes-Davis mounted Fenerbahce's 17-4 response to own a 77-70 lead with under 5 minutes left. Nick Calathes made it even bigger, 84-76, with 2 minutes to play, but the hosts wouldn't score again as Outtara and Diallo inched Monaco closer and John Brown's last-second putback forced OT.
In the extra period, Monaco led briefly but Wilbekin and Hayes-Davis, the latter with a triple and big block, made it 91-87 with 2 minutes left. Diallo and James got the visitors within 96-94 but Guduric was golden at the line to keep the victory in Istanbul