Shooting, rebounds carried Baskonia past Fenerbahce

Cazoo Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz produced one of the most remarkable second-half comebacks in the club’s Turkish Airlines EuroLeague history on Friday night, as it beat Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul 92-69 at Buesa Arena after trailing by 9 points early in the third quarter.
The result left Baskonia (17-15) in the hunt for a playoff spot while Fenerbahce (18-14) missed a chance to seal its own postseason berth with two games to spare.
Apart from an inspired performance from player of the game Vanja Marinkovic, who scored a career-high 35 points, of which 23 came in the second half, the home side thrived on good three-point shooting (12-of-26) and a jaw-dropping 44 rebounds, with 16 coming on the offensive end.
Fenerbahce went a disappointing 4-of-17 on its shots from beyond the arc and grabbed 28 boards, having been blown away in the second half after leading throughout almost the entire first two quarters.
In addition, Baskonia nailed all 28 of its free throws, whereas Fenerbahce was 15-of-22 from the foul line.
The poor display after the break left Fenerbahce head coach Dimitris Itoudis disappointed, and he acknowledged that his side basically threw in the towel after Baskonia had turned the game on its head.
“The fourth quarter left a bitter taste because we looked like we gave up, and we don’t have that right as a team or as individuals,” Coach Itoudis said during his post-game press conference. “Now, we have to turn the page. It didn’t help that we were shorthanded, but we have to give our all in our next game against Efes."