Wade Baldwin paced the victors with steady scoring and composure
Fenerbahce survives Maccabi comeback to take crucial win
Informes de partidos
3 Min lectura
Regular Season
Round 10 of 38
Regular Season
Fenerbahce Beko IstanbulFBB
8475
Maccabi Rapyd Tel AvivMTA
Overview
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“This year, we love to give our Fenerbahce fans a heart attack for second halves of games, throughout the entirety of the games,” Wade Baldwin said with a grin after Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul’s 84-75 win over Maccabi Rapyd Tel Aviv in Munich, Germany.
“This was a tough Maccabi team. We found a way through toughness, through defense to get a win.”
Baldwin didn’t just talk about toughness, he backed it up with composure when it mattered. The guard, who finished with 17 points, 4 rebounds and 4 assists, was the driving force behind Fenerbahce’s victory. His control in key moments and ability to deliver when the game tightened up helped his team stay steady whenever Maccabi threatened to shift the momentum.
Defense set the tone for Fenerbahce. Against Maccabi, the EuroLeague’s second-highest-scoring team at 90.7 points per game, the plan was simple: slow them down. The Istanbul side executed it to perfection in the first half, holding the opponent to just 30 points with physical defense. Taking advantage of Maccabi’s lapses on the other end, Fenerbahçe built a double-digit lead by halftime and established control of the game.
The second half told a different story. Fenerbahce stretched the lead to as many as 20 points, but Maccabi mounted a furious comeback, erasing the deficit and even pulling ahead. The key for the Israeli side was its dominance on the offensive glass. Maccabi grabbed 20 offensive rebounds, 38 in total, and used those second-chance opportunities to disrupt Fenerbahce’s rhythm and swing the momentum.
Coach Sarunas Jasikevicius reflected on that stretch and said: ‘‘For 25 minutes we were ok, we were playing not something amazing, but pretty decent basketball, and then in 10 minutes we lost totally the concentration, and we let them back in the game.’’
Fenerbahce regained momentum and pulled the game back in its favor thanks to its better shooting from deep. Both teams struggled from beyond the arc in the first half, with Maccabi hitting just 1-of-13, but the hosts found their range when it mattered most. Devon Hall was key in the third, knocking down 3 timely threes and finishing with 15 points and 6 rebounds. Talen Horton-Tucker added 13 points, hitting big shots to keep Fenerbahce in control and seal the win.
From Maccabi, Roman Sorkin and Jaylen Hoard stood out, keeping their team in the game. Sorkin finished with 22 points and 8 rebounds, while Hoard posted a double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds.
‘‘I am proud of where we came back to the game.’’ said Maccabi Coach Oded Kattash. ‘‘We stayed there even though we couldn’t find our shots in the first half, we were down 20, but we were there and that’s very important. Again, we had a chance to win the game, we have to learn from that.’’
Fenerbahce will look to carry its momentum into the second game of the double-round week when it faces league leader Hapoel IBI Tel Aviv.
