Fener survives in Euros with epic win

ISTANBUL - Hürriyet Daily News

Fenerbahçe Ülker players celebrate after beating Russia’s Unics Kazan in a dramatic Turkish Airlines Euroleague game at the Ülker Sports Arena in Istanbul. AA Photo

Fenerbahçe Ülker claimed a memorable comeback victory over Unics Kazan and managed to continue its bid to get a ticket to the Turkish Airlines Euroleage Top 8.

In one of the most exciting games in Top 16 history, Fenerbahçe Ülker rallied from a 13-point fourth-quarter deficit to edge Unics 94-87 in overtime in front of almost 12,000 fans at the Ülker Sports Arena in Istanbul, Turkey in Group G on Feb. 24.

Fenerbahçe Ülker needed to win by 6 points or more to stay alive in the competition, regardless of other results. After the win, it will again need to beat EA7 Milano in Italy next week, as well as waiting for Panathinaikos to beat Unics.

Bojan Bogdanovic paced the winners with 20 points, but Roko Ukic became the game hero with a buzzer-beating floating jumper to send the game to overtime. Ukic added 18 points, Emir Preldzic had 13, Gasper Vidmar got 10 and Mirsad Türkcan pulled down 13 rebounds for the Turkish champion, which improved to 2-3.

Lynn Greer led Unics with 33 points.

It was a close game with 53-52 in the third quarter, but a 2-16 run that Greer capped with an unbelievable buzzer-beating three-pointer from way downtown gave Unics a 55-68 margin after 30 minutes. Unics still led 73-79 with 1:23 left, but a 6-0 run that Ukic capped with a floating jumper sent the game to overtime, 79-79. Gasper Vidmar, Emir Preldzic and Bogdanovic took over in the extra period to lead Fenerbahçe Ülker to an epic win.

Galatasaray Medical Park will also play at Olympiacos get a win to advance to the Top 8 stage. The third team in the competition, Anadolu Efes, the third Turkish team in the competition, was knocked out of the competition.

Meanwhile, Kayseri Kaskispor will take a healthy 12-point advantage to Botaş next week for the second leg of the EuroCup Women in an all-Turkish semifinal tie.

Adana’s Botaş, despite getting 19 points and 22 rebounds from Courtney Paris, slumped to a 77-65 defeat in the Turkish showdown at Kayseri.

The 25-year-old power forward Latoya Sanders was dominant on both ends of the floor with 20 points, nine rebounds and seven blocks while 35-year-old center Sanford finished with 18 points and 11 rebounds.