By Stefan Djordjevic / info@eurohoops.net
Anadolu Efes and Maccabi Tel Aviv put on an offensive show in a EuroLeague Round 7 clash that ended with a 91-89 win for the former. Efes improved to a 3-3 record while Maccabi stands at 2-5.
The teams exchanged basket after basket as the game went down to the wire and it was Rodrigue Beaubois’ impressive driving layup over two players with 24 seconds left that won the game for Anadolu Efes.
Coach Ioannis Sfairopoulos called a time out but his brainstorming was ruined as his players turned over the ball immediately after the inbound. They had one more chance to win it as Scottie Wilbekin tried to release a three-pointer but Beaubois was not allowing anything to ruin his moment and blocked him.
Beaubois finished the game with 23 points on 8-10 shooting while dishing seven assists and stealing the ball three times. Tibor Pleiss followed every step of the way with 20 points and nine rebounds while Adrien Moerman scored 17 and Krunoslav Simon 13 points.
It should be noted that Pleiss played more than 32 minutes and delivered strong despite an injury. “Before the game, I thought I can maybe play 15 minutes, 10 minutes, because my ankle is totally blue. But the 32 minutes, they went so quickly, so I’m happy… I know it’s always easier, it’s better to win sometimes by 20 points, but winning a game in this situation by a block, everybody was pumped up, the whole team came on the court. Everybody was happy. This is an amazing feeling as well,” he said after the match.
Efes couldn’t count on Bryant Dunston and Shane Larkin while for Maccabi, Elijah Bryant scored 22 in addition to Scottie Wilbekin’s 15 and Tyler Dorsey’s 14 points. Ante Zizic logged ten points and eight boards.
Both squads were locked in from the very start and treated the fans with a 99-point half with Maccabi having the minimal advantage (50-49) despite starting the game down 11-0.
It was no surprise that guards were exemplary in that run-and-gun style of play. Elijah Bryant banked four threes for Maccabi while Scottie Wilbekin and Tyler Dorsey followed. On the other side, Rodrigue Beaubois and Tibor Pleiss answered. Both teams shot 55+ percent overall in the first half and drained nine and eight threes respectively.
It could have been expected for the percentages to drop after the break but the shots still kept going in as neither side could make a significant gap. It came down to the final seconds and Beaubois’ heroics landed the win for the Turkish side.
“Maccabi played great basketball, especially their guards. Bryant had an amazing offensive game. Dorsey, Willbekin. And of course, we had a problem, we missed our main center Dunston and also our backup, Sanli. So we only had Pleiss at center and like you said, he played 32 minutes tonight. And also without Larkin who last week gave us too much in Athens against Olympiacos. Beaubois replaced him very well and it was a great offensive game. Also Maccabi had a chance to win the game, but I believe in the last 2 minutes we were finally successful in stopping their guards and we won the game,” coach Ergin Ataman said.