Fenerbahce beats Maccabi Tel Aviv in Euroleague basketball

JERUSALEM - Turkey's Fenerbahce beat Israeli basketball champion Maccabi Tel Aviv 75-65 in the sixth round of the Euroleague on Thursday.

The Turkish visitors achieved their third victory so far, while the Israelis have two wins in six games.

The game, held behind closed doors at the Menorah Mivtachim Arena in Tel Aviv, was opened strongly by the home team, who led 13-4 after five minutes, but three pointers by Ali Muhammed helped the visitors narrow the gap to 18-22 by the end of the first quarter.

The Turkish team took its first lead in the 13th minute (26-24), but Maccabi took back control with a 7-0 run and led 38-35 at half-time.

Fenerbahce took the lead again in the 27th minute (49-47), and kept it until the end of the third quarter (56-54), mainly thanks to points by Nando de Colo.

The Turkish side's lead rose to 62-54 at the beginning of the last quarter, and to 69-58 with five minutes to go.

Points by Scottie Wilbekin cut the deficit to 63-69 with three minutes to go, but Maccabi could not get any closer.

Muhammed led Fenerbahce's scorers with 17 points, and De Colo added 13 points.

Wilbekin scored a team-high 23 points for Maccabi, while Ante Zizic logged 11 points and 10 rebounds.

Maccabi will play its next game in Turkey against Anadolu Efes on November 5, while Fenerbahce will host Khimki Moscow Region the following evening.