Euroleague: Barca flops as Fenerbahce soars

The two round Euroleague week continued on Wednesday as the clubs wrapped Round 3 with four contests on the evening. Fenerbahce Istanbul continued to thrive with a third consecutive win, while Crvena Zvezda Belgrade looked good in shocking Barcelona. Panathinaikos outlasted Bamberg on the road, while Maccabi Tel Aviv finally got off the mark against Galatasaray.

Fenerbahce Istanbul vs. Zalgiris Kaunas, 82-68

Fenerbahce continued its excellent start to the Euroleague season with a roaring home win over Zalgiris in Istanbul. The Turkish club joins CSKA Moscow at the top of the standings without defeat. Indeed, the two finalists from last season are the only clubs to win all three games so far. Fenerbahce was too good from the start against the Lithuanian champs. The hosts tamed Zalgiris with a 44-37 first half and completed the job with a cruising second.

Ekpe Udoh and Jan Vesely notched 14 points each in the win, with Udoh adding 8 rebounds. Pero Antic netted 11 points and Bogdan Bogdanovic amassed 10 points.

Leo Westermman led Zalgiris Kaunas with a game high 15 points, followed by Brock Motum with 14 points.

Crvena Zvezda Belgrade vs. Barcelona, 76-65

Crvena Zvezda moved to 2-1 in the standings with a surprisingly easy win over Spanish giant Barcelona. Barca looks in trouble this season and need to improve quickly, the Catalan former champs are on 1-2 at this admittedly early stage. The guests actually took a big first quarter lead, 9-16, but could not keep the momentum. Belgrade used a massive 31-15 second frame to secure a 40-31 lead at halftime. The hosts rarely looked back as they controlled large parts of the second half on the way to victory.

Marko Guduric topped the winners with 21 points, while Marko Simonovic added 13 points and Milko Bjelica 12 points.

Brad Oleson paced Barcelona with 15 points, with Victor Claver collecting a double-double of 12 points and 10 rebounds.

Brose Bamberg vs. Panathinaikos Athens, 83-84

German club Bamberg carried its good form into this contest, but ultimately Greek heavyweight Panathinaikos edged a thrilling game by a single point. In a back and forth encounter, Brose Bamberg recovered from a 15-20 losing first act to take a one point (63-62) lead into the fourth quarter. The final confrontation went down to the wire as Nick Calathes put back a bucket in the closing seconds to decide the contest.

K.C. Rivers was good for 18 points in the Panathinaikos roster, while James Feldeine scored 16 points and Calathes 13 points and 11 boards for a classy double-double.

Janis Strelnieks topped Bamberg with 16 points, while Nicolo Melli added 17 points. Nikos Zisis scored 13 points in victory.

Maccabi Tel Aviv vs. Galatasaray Istanbul, 98-92

This contest put two struggling teams together in game 3, so something had to give. As it turned out, former multiple Euroleague champ Maccabi Tel Aviv went big at home to see off current EuroCup champ Galatasaray. This was the Israeli clubs’ first success of the season, while Galatasaray is still without a win this season on the continent.

Sonny Weems was hot for 23 points in the Tel Aviv account, followed by Colton Iverson and Devin Smith with 17 points apiece.

Vladimir Micov paced the losing effort with 18 points and 6 rebounds, while Justin Dentmon added 22 points in the loss.