Fenerbahçe Ülker gets one over Olympiacos Piraeus

ISTANBUL

Fenerbahçe Ülker center Oğuz Savaş had nine points and three rebounds in his team’s match against Olympiacos. AFP photo

Fenerbahçe Ülker rose to the top of its Turkish Airlines Euroleague Group A with a crucial 86-70 victory over Olympiacos Piraeus on Dec. 1.

Cutis Jerrells came off the bench for 17 points and five assists and Roko Ukic added 16 points as the Turkish champion improved to 4-3. That was enough to take Fenerbahçe Ülker to the top in an extremely tight group that has three teams with four wins and three teams with three.

Fenerbahçe leads over second Caja Laboral and third Bennet Cantu. Gescrap Bizkaia Bilbao, who had no trouble beating last-spot SLUC Nancy on Nov. 30, is fourth. Olympiacos is fifth.

The game was tied late in the second quarter and after Fenerbahçe Ülker moved ahead 42-36 at the break, the Reds closed to within two early in the third quarter. But Gasper Vidmar scored half the points in an 8-0 run and the hosts never looked back. Olympiacos did get back within five in the fourth quarter, but Jerrells and Ukic took care of business and lifted Fener forward to the win and a the potential tiebreaker over Olympiacos, which won their previous meeting by seven.

Veteran guard Ömer Onan added 11 for the winners. Kyle Hines paced Olympiacos with 14 points and seven rebounds and Kalin Lucas scored 13.

Another Turkish team in the competition, Galatasaray Medical Park suffered a 72-61 defeat at the hands of Unics Kazan. The Russians, who are third in the Group D, have clinched a spot in the Top 16, following the footsteps of Barcelona and Montepaschi Siena. Galatasaray has three wins and boasts a serious advantage of becoming the final team to advance. Union Olimpija is fifth with only one win, with three matches left.