By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
ASVEL entered the last two minutes of the game leading, however, Anadolu Efes closed it the right way thanks to Vasilje Micic (22 p.) and Shane Larkin (18 p.). Efes got the 72-68 win with Sertac Sanli scoring two free throws just one second left before the final buzzer with the game already decided.
It wasn’t easy for Efes which now has a solid 7-5 record, as coach Ergin Ataman admitted: “We didn’t play our basketball. We had 8 assists, and we have 17 assists on average. We just made 2 three-point shots. But we found a way to win the game. We did not attack their zone well, but in the last three or four minutes, we found a way. And also with three bigs, we found a way to control the board with Chris Singleton at position three. We did not play good basketball, but it is important that we took the victory because we start a very long and difficult series of games.”
Micic agreed: “Unfortunately, we lost so many games at home, which is unusual for us, but that’s the season we expected this year, with no fans. But we have to find our own motivation for every game. Maybe this was not a pretty victory, but an important one, and maybe it can turn us into the mode that we are in general.”
After training by six at the end of the first quarter (19-13), Efes managed to get a 33-27 half-time lead and still was in front at the end of the third period (48-44). Thanks to a three-pointer by David Lighty, ASVEL got a 52-50 lead with less than eight minutes left on the game and kept it by tooth and claw until Larkin completed a 7-0 run to give Efes a 66-65 advantage.
ASVEL couldn’t score after that and Larkin gave to Efes a three-point lead with two free throws (68-65). The French side had 16 seconds and the ball, both Norris Cole and William Howard missed the chance to tie the score, and Micic got fouled. The Serb guard iced the game with two free throws (70-65) and despite a last-second three by Howard (70-68), nothing changed.
Kevarrius Hayes with six blocks and eight rebounds for the losing side was one of the standouts, while Lighty and Howard scored 14 points each. But ultimately ASVEL had to settle with defeat and a total 3-8 record.