Datome, Dixon lead Fenerbahce to EuroLeague Final

Fenerbahce Dogus 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. In doing so, Fenerbahce earned the right to defend its title in Sunday's championship game against the winner of the second semifinal between CSKA Moscow and Real Madrid. 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, which set a season-high with 13 steals, became the third team this century to reach three consecutive EuroLeague finals, after Maccabi Tel Aviv (2004, 2005, 2006) and CSKA Moscow (2006, 2007, 2008, 2009). 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. Fenerbahce led from start to finish with the biggest lead being 13 in the third quarter. Zalgiris responded with a 0-11 run and was again within 2 early in the fourth quarter before Muhammed heated up and helped put the game away. Zalgiris outrebounded Fenerbahce 22-37, but was undone by its uncharacteristically-low three-point shooting (2 for 10) and committing 20 turnovers.


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