Roared on by several thousand Turkish expatriates, Dimitris Itoudis's side beat Bayern on the road in a fervent atmosphere.
Fenerbahce fans made the visitors feel at home in Munich
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Regular Season
Round 5 of 34
Regular Season
FC Bayern MunichBAY
6776
Fenerbahce Beko IstanbulFBB
Overview
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Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul ground out a well-deserved 67-76 win at FC Bayern Munich in Round 5 of the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague Regular Season, with the visiting team looking more like the hosts as thousands of “away” fans cheered them on inside BMW Park.
One could easily be forgiven for thinking the game was being played in Istanbul, with the Fenerbahce crowd – by and large Turkish expatriates based in Munich – roaring Dimitris Itoudis’s squad on from the top of their lungs throughout the physical contest.
Fenerbahce kept Bayern at arm’s length… just
The home fans sporadically cheered on Bayern, notably when the German side was ahead and when it launched several comeback attempts, which ended up falling short against a steely Fenerbahce defense. The 2017 EuroLeague champion led throughout the second half and prevailed on the back of 17 points from the game’s top scorer Scottie Wilbekin, with Marko Guduric adding 14 for the visitors.
Bayern missed a chance to force a dramatic late twist after it slashed the deficit to 66-68 with 90 seconds left in the game, but forward Isaac Bonga then committed a series of errors which vanquished his team’s fightback. Fenerbahce improved to 4-1 while Bayern slipped to 2-3 and Wilbekin was delighted after the outcome.
“It (the grandstand finale) was a bit stressful, but we were able to make our free throws and do the things we needed to do when it counts,” Wilbekin told EuroLeague TV in a flash courtside interview. “We did a better job in the second half on rebounding and I got some open looks off the dribble.”
Coach Itoudis praised his team’s effort, too: “We were scoreless for a long period in the third quarter, but we played well defensively and stopping the productivity of their guards was the key.”
Bayern’s difficulties
Sylvain Francisco was the only home player in double figures with 11 points, while former Fenerbahce guard Carsen Edwards endured a tough night as he posted just 6 points and Germany’s world champion Andreas Obst netted 9 on 2-of-7 shooting from three-point range. Serge Ibaka also scored 9 points for Bayern, but he was kept under wraps in the closing stages. In particular, Fenerbahce thrived on collecting a staggering 48 rebounds, 17 of them offensive.
“It was another tough road game in the EuroLeague and we controlled most of it,” added Itoudis in the post-game press conference. “We had lapses on the defensive end in the first half, but we came back with a different mindset in the second. We need to congratulate our fans, they made us feel at home. They were amazing like they always are over here, so a big applause for them.”
Bayern boss Pablo Laso had no complaints. “We played very well in the first half, but to win you have to score and we missed open jumpers,” he lamented. “We kept fighting, we were in the game until the end, but we faced a very good team. No complaints to the players, they played hard and we will learn from this defeat. We just didn’t dominate the rhythm of the game.”