Zalgiris lost the battle vs reigning champs in EuroLeague semifinal 21

Fenerbahce Istanbul held off three comeback attempts from Zalgiris Kaunas to register a 76-67 victory in the first semifinal of the 2018 Turkish Airlines EuroLeague Final Four on Friday night at Stark Arena in Belgrade, Serbia.

Ali Muhammed scored 10 of his 18 points in the fourth quarter to spark Fenerbahce to victory. Luigi Datome added 16 points and Kostas Sloukas had 14 as the Fenerbahce reserves outscored their counterparts 53-22. Nicolo Melli played a key role too with 6 assists and 5 steals. Fenerbahce set a season-high with 13 steals.

Kevin Pangos paced Zalgiris with 16 points, but also committed a career-high 5 turnovers. Brandon Davies shined with 12 points and 11 rebounds and Aaron White scored 10 in defeat.

Zalgiris struggled to score early as Fenerbahce’s aggressive defense limited the Lithuanian champs to just 1 point – a free throw by Kevin Pangos – in the first four minutes. Meanwhile, Wanamaker scored twice in penetration, Jan Vesely split free throws and Ahmet Duverioglu added a put-back slam for a 7-1 Fenerbahce lead. Pangos hit a baseline jumper and free throws by Edgaras Ulanovas brought Zalgiris within 7-5. Ali Muhammed struck from downtown and Sloukas added free throws, but Aaron White and Pangos kept Zalgiris as close. Datome scored in penetration and bettered Antanas Kavaliauskas’s layup with a corner three-pointer. Paulius Jankunas made foul shots, but Wanamaker scored again for a 19-13 Fenerbahce lead after 10 minutes.

A red-hot Datome followed a fast break layup with a bomb from beyond the arc early in the second quarter, but Axel Toupane and Vasilije Micic brought Zalgiris within 24-18. Beno Udrih found his first points on a stop-and-pop jumper before consecutive layups by Duverioglu and Sloukas forced Zalgiris to call timeout down 28-20. A big block by Datome allowed Vesely to dunk at the other end and make it a double-digit game. Vesely dunked again to cap an 8-0 run. Pangos stepped up with free throws and a driving layup. Vesely made foul shots and Datome added a jumper, but White took over with an off-balance layup and Davies added a three-point play and a tip-in to bring Zalgiris within 6. A layup by Muhammed and a big dunk by White fixed the halftime score at 39-33.

Zalgiris improved its defense after the break and held Fenerbahce scoreless for more than two minutes. Meanwhile, an electric driving layup by Pangos made it a 4-point game. Nicolo Melli rescued his team with a two-handed dunk and Sloukas added a jumper that established a 43-35 Fenerbahce margin. Micic downed a jumper off a spin move, but Sloukas scored again and a three-pointer by Wanamaker forced Zalgiris to stop the game at 48-37. Nikola Kalinic shined with a backdoor layup off his team’s 12th steal – a season-high – but a three-pointer by Ulanovas and a jumper by Toupane kept Zalgiris within 50-42. Kavaliauskas scored around the basket and split free throws in a 0-11 run that Pangos capped with a wild triple. Muhammed scored in penetration off a Fenerbahce timeout and erased White’s layup with a buzzer-beating basket that gave his team some fresh air, 54-50, after 30 minutes.

Davies scored around the rim early in the fourth quarter, but a jumper by Datome and back-to-back three-pointers by an unstoppable Muhammed restored a double-digit lead, 62-52. Davies dunked off a Zalgiris timeout but Melli answered with a big basket and Muhammed hit a floater for a 66-54 Fenerbahce margin. Jankunas hit his trademark mid-range shot and Pangos copied him for a 66-58 score with less than six minutes left. Ulanovas capped a 0-6 run with a jump hook, but Datome stepped up with a driving layup. Free throws by Toupane and White gave Zalgiris a chance at 68-62 with 2:37 left. Sloukas followed suit as he also split two free throws for a 69-62 lead. Pangos also could only get one free throw to fall at the other end with Ali making Zalgiris pay for it with a baseline jumper to make it 71-63. The nerves got the best of the teams over the next few possessions with five turnovers over a six-possession stretch before Davies converted a three-point play to trim the gap to 71-66. Sloukas answered with a layup and then followed it with a three-pointer after yet another Zalgiris turnover and Fenerbahce went up 76-66 to decide the game for good.