Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul solidified its grip on second place in the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague with a hard-earned 83-87 Monday night victory at Paris Basketball, and a club record in rebounding was a big part of the reason why.
According to euroleaguebasketball.net, the tone was set very early with 3 offensive boards in the team’s very first possession and that pattern continued throughout the encounter as Saras Jasikevicius’s men finished with a club-record 50 total rebounds – including a mammoth 30 at the offensive end, which tied CSKA Moscow for the EuroLeague record.
That success under the boards was a real collective effort, with 10 different players grabbing multiple rebounds. Khem Birch led the way with 7, while Devon Hall’s 5 offensive boards just outshone Nigel Hayes-Davis and Birch with 4 apiece.
Another important factor in the triumph was a solid performance from Wade Baldwin, who posted 11 points and 8 assists in just his second game back after a long injury absence.
“It’s great to be back,” said Baldwin. “[After] three months out it feels like I’m just getting started. Just trying to find the groove.”
Asked to identify the key to the victory, the versatile guard noted: “Locking down and getting stops, finding our groove on defense, getting out and running and finding some easy transition baskets, and winning the game down the stretch.”
Speaking to EuroLeague TV immediately after the game, Fener boss Jasikevicius underlined his team’s rebounding success as he noted: “I thought our fighting spirit was great. In the first half, Paris was more physical, we were making too many mental mistakes from the gameplan, but the second half was much better.”
