Fenerbahçe suffers first Euroleague defeat of season against Barcelona

ISTANBUL

Fenerbahçe Ülker's Croatian center Luka Zoric (R) reacts during the Euroleague showdown against Barcelona at the at Palau Blaugrana sports hall on Nov. 29. AFP photo

Fenerbahçe Ülker’s undefeated run in the Euroleague ended against last year’s semi-finalist Barcelona on Nov. 29, in a second consecutive defeat after the weekend’s reverse on the hardwood of the Turkish league leaders Banvit Bandırma. The Istanbul side lost 94-81 on the road but remained on top of Group A, despite dropping to 6-1. Barcelona is second with a 5-2 record, the same as CSKA Moscow who won in Ukraine 82-74 against Budivelnik Kiev. 
 
Playmaker Bo McCallebb paced the Yellow Canaries with 22 points. Nemanja Bjelica had a double-double scoring 20 points and grabbing 11 rebounds. Emir Preldzic had also a big night in Barcelona with 20 points, but the Euroleague’s top scorer so far, Bojan Bogdanovic, remained at eight points. Zeljko Obradovic’s team also only received 4 points of contribution from the bench.
 
Just the opposite for the Catalans as Bostjan Nachbar came from the bench to lead Barcelona with 23 points and 9 rebounds. Kostas Papanikolau added 18 and Juan Carlos Navarro chipped 13 points for the Catalan’s win.
 
Earlier, Anadolu Efes easily defeated Strasbourg 88-65 to take back the second place of Group B. Scotty Hopson scored 23 points for the Blues, while Jamon Gordon added 18 points. Alexis Ajinca was once again the French side’s top scorer with 21 points. 
 
Anadolu Efes will host Brose Bamberg next week, while Fenerbahçe Ülker will travel to another one of last year’s Euroleague semi-finalists, CSKA Moscow. 
 
Elsewhere, Laboral Kutxa Vitoria edged Panathinaikos 79-77 while Zalgiris Kaunas topped Emporio Armani Milano 73-71 in two thrilling games.