ZADAR, Sept. 23 -- Turkish champions Fenerbahce Istanbul beat CSKA Moscow 86-76 in the final match of the 5th edition of Zadar Basketball Tournament here on Sunday, lifting the trophy for the fourth time.
It was a rematch of last year's final and the outcome was the same but the final minutes of the game were not so intense as they were a year ago, when the team led by Zeljko Obradovic, the most successful coach in European basketball, defeated CSKA by four points (76-72).
Fenerbahce controled the last minutes of the final tonight as they built eight points lead with two minutes to go. Russians cut the deficit to five points with 1:08 minute to go, but Ali Muhhammed's three point play put Fenerbahce out of the reach for Dimitris Itoudis' side. Once again the CSKA head coach, who worked for years as Zeljko Obradovic's assistant, had to admit that "The Professor" is still the man to beat.
Italian side Olimpia Milan beat German champions Bayern Munich by 82-77 in a 3rd place match and Israeli champion Maccabi Tel Aviv defeated CBA champions Liaoning Flying Leopards 100-64 in a 5th place match.
Fenerbahce lost only once in the five editions -- in 2016 final match when former Cleveland Cavaliers coach David Blatt led another Turkish side, Dogus Darussafaka, and beat Zeljko Obradovic.