“We played a good game, we approached it with a lot of courage and the first two quarters were really brilliant. But against the defending champions, the league-leadin team, on their home court, playing well is never enough. We tried to come back, though,” Coach Peppe Poeta said after Olimpia was defeated 79-75 in Istanbul. His team led by as many as 15 points in the second quarter with a huge defensive effort sustained by Armoni Brooks’ scoring. “We didn’t stop the ball and that gave us the chance to play against their switching defense,” Poeta said. Fenerbahce cut the deficit to eight late in the second period. “In the second half, they jumped on us and we couldn’t match thier aggressiveness and physicality,” he added. Fenerbhace was trailing by ten points early in the third when three steals out of four possessions turner the game around. Eventually, the home team margin ballooned to nine points at different times, while Olimpia responded each and every time but couldn’t get closer than within four points.