Fener suffers big blow, Eagles win

DESIO/VILNIUS

Beşiktaş guard Curtis Jerrells scored 23 points to lead the Turkish champion past Lietuvos Rytas. Beşiktaş has three wins in five Euroleague matches. AP photo

Fenerbahçe Ülker suffered a huge blow in Italy while debutant Beşiktaş got a big away victory in the Turkish Airlines Euroleague on Nov. 8.

Mapooro Cantu crushed Fenerbahçe Ülker 82-58 in Desio to improve to 2-3 in Group A, while the Istanbul club dropped to 3-2.

Jonathan Tabu, who saw extended playing time in the wake of Jerry Smith’s injury, paced the winners with 16 points and seven assists. Marco Cusin and Jeff Brooks each added 15 points, while Pietro Aradori scored 14 for Cantu. Romain Sato led Fenerbahçe with 10 points.

“I’m very happy with this team performance. Our defense was very strong, so we were able to stop the offense of Fenerbahçe,” Tabu told the Euroleague website. “I did my best to lead the team, because the absence of Jerry Smith is very heavy for the team. The first two shots from long distance gave me confidence and made my game easier.”

Meanwhile, Beşiktaş took a decisive step towards the Top 16 in its first-ever Euroleague season by downing Lietuvos Rytas 67-73 in Lithuania.

Beşiktaş improved to 3-2 and is third in Group D, while Rytas dropped to 1-4. Barcelona Regal is top of the group with five wins, while CSKA Moscow is on 4-1.

Curtis Jerrells led the winners with 23 points on 5-for-9 three-point shooting. Damir Markota added 13 points, while Vladimir Dasic had 10 for Besiktas. Steponas Babrauskas scored 14 points for Rytas and Nemanja Nedovic added 11.

Key victory

“Lietuvos Rytas was a stronger team couple years ago. But now they have a few young, talented players and they fought till the last minute,” Beşiktaş coach Erman Kunter said. “In our group there are four team which seek the last two tickets to the Top 16 and our main goal is to overcome Lietuvos Rytas, Partizan and Brose Baskets.”

After the halftime finished in a 33-33 draw, an outstanding Dasic gave Beşiktaş an 8-point lead after the break. Rytas managed to pull within 48-49 after 30 minutes, but Markota and Jerrells led another 0-8 run that put the Black Eagles ahead for good. Rytas managed to get as close as 65-69 in the next-to-last minute, but Jerrells capped his outstanding performance with a wild fadeaway jumper that carried the Turkish titleholder out of trouble for good.