The Turkish side joins Olympiacos Piraeus as the only teams to have guaranteed a top-10 finish
Fenerbahce seals postseason spot by downing ASVEL, 92-82

Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul has become the second team to book a spot in the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague postseason after beating LDLC ASVEL Villeurbanne 92-82 in Round 29. Saras Jasikevicius’s men improved to 20-9 having won their fifth straight game at Ulker Sport and Event Hall, while Pierric Poupet’s ASVEL suffered a sixth straight defeat to fall to 11-17.
Wade Baldwin led Fenerbahce in scoring with 15 points, in addition to posting a team-high 6 assists. Bonzie Colson and Errick McCollum both chipped in with 10 points apiece. Impressively, nine of the 11 Fenerbahce players that stepped onto the floor netted at least 8 points. For ASVEL, Joffrey Lauvergne poured in a game-high 20 points and grabbed a game-best 9 rebounds. Nando De Colo recorded a 13-point, 11-assist double-double, with Andre Roberson adding 11 points and Neal Sako contributing 10 points.
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Despite being without the injured Theo Maledon, ASVEL could lean on the play of Lauvergne early on as he scored 6 points to put ASVEL 11-8 up. The French big man was involved in all aspects of ASVEL’s play and drained a three-pointer to tie things up at 13-13. Melvin Ajinca and De Colo gave the visitors the lead, but a Baldwin triple restored Fenerbahce’s advantage, 21-19. Baldwin scored again and Jilson Bango dunked inside, while Nicolo Melli’s corner three ensured it was 30-23 after 10 minutes.
De Colo got ASVEL off to a good start in the second quarter with a three-point play, 30-26, but scores by Bango, Tarik Biberovic and Baldwin made it a double-digit ballgame at 36-26. Lauvergne, just as he did in the first quarter, took over by netting 8 points to move to 17 in the game as ASVEL cut the gap to one point, 38-37. McCollum and Bonzie Colson made it comfortable once again for Fenerbahce, 46-37, yet a strong finish to the second period by ASVEL saw the visitors go on a 7-3 run to trail 49-44 at the break, with De Colo having hit a buzzer-beating three to end the half.
McCollum scored 5 points out of the interval to double Fenerbahce’s lead to 54-44. It took more than three and a half minutes for ASVEL to finally put some points on the board, with Lauvergne making a pair of free throws before Roberson scored a layup, 56-48. When Nigel Hayes-Davis scored his first points of the night with a three in transition, Fenerbahce led 61-50. A three-pointer apiece by Roberson and Shaquielle Harrison helped ASVEL trim the gap to six points, 64-58, but Harrison ended up having to go back to the locker room after landing awkwardly as he contested a Baldwin three-point attempt. Then, Sanli’s put-back score and Hall’s triple were enough for Fenerbahce to take a 70-60 lead into the fourth quarter.
The ASVEL fightback was led by Paris Lee and Ben Bentil as they netted 5 points apiece, but Fenerbahce still held a 78-70 advantage. It was then the turn of David Lighty to show what he can do with a mid-range jumper and a three, but Hall and Hayes-Davis’s scores in between prevented ASVEL from getting close, 83-75. Nicolo Melli struck from distance and Hayes-Davis scored a layup to set a game-high 14-point lead, 90-76, and Fenerbahce saw out the final 2:43 minutes before coming away with a 92-82 victory.