Fenerbahce Istanbul suffered their first TBL defeat in the 2021-22 season at the hands of Bursaspor by 73-84 (21-23, 15-21, 16-18, 21-22), dropping to 4-1 in their domestic league. In contrast, the hosts improved to 2-3.
Allerik Freeman was decisive, leading his team in scoring (21) and when Bursa were in dire need of some extra punch. Andrew Andrews added 20 on perfect (6/6) shooting.
On the other end, only Nando De Colo responded scoring-wise, while Jan Vesely was absent. Bursaspor went 10/22 from downtown, whilst forcing Fener to 15 turnovers.
The hosts, competing in the EuroCup for another season, were up for the most part. However, six minutes into the third quarter, Fener got a narrow lead (50-49) with a basket by Devin Booker.
And then, everything stopped for the 2017 EuroLeague champs.
Bursaspor got off to a partial score of 15-2 to cement a double-digit lead and comfortably maintain it to the end. Allerik Freeman scored 9 points to turn things around in the game for the hosts over that span.
Midway through the last quarter, Andrews hit a three-pointer to make it 77-60. Fenerbahce's reaction was fruitless since time was not on their side.
All Sasa Djordjevic's squad could do was cut down the deficit to 11 (84-73) when the final buzzer was blown.
Bursaspor: Freeman 21 (7/13 FGS), Andrews 20 (6/6 FGS), Bitim 13, Turen 10.
Fenerbahce Istanbul: De Colo 18 (4/7 FGS, 8/8 FT, 6 AST), Booker 12, Hazer 12, Polonara 11.
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