By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
Shane Larkin with 24 points made things happen for Anadolu Efes Istanbul which got the 91-89 win over Olympiacos.
Darius Thompson added 13 points and five assists and Elijah Bryant finished the night with 11 points, the biggest shot of the night, and six assists.
It was a vintage night for Larkin who kept his team alive during Olympiacos’ crescendo.
For the losing side, Evan Fournier scored 20 points but it was not enough, Shaquielle McKissic added 17 and Sasha Vezenkov had 16.
It was the seventh straight home win of Efes over the Reds as the two teams are tied at 2-2 in the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague standings.
Efes coach Tomislav Mijatovic dedicated this result to the fans who are making their presence felt in the new arena of the team: “We’re in a new home, and we need to have this kind of support every time. It gave us extra wings, and an extra push, and this is a great building block for what’s coming up next. It was a tremendous basketball evening here in Istanbul.”
A fight until the end
Olympiacos started the game with a 23-8 run and Vezenkov scored 10 points on 5/6 FG. The first period ended with Efes trimming the lead to 12 (23-11) after a three by Rolands Smits.
With Larkin getting hot with 14 first-half points and the rest of the team following, Efes made it a one-point game (42-41) just before Tyler Dorsey scored at the buzzer for a 44-41 halftime score in favor of Olympiacos, having in total 11 points.
With the two teams exchanging big shots, Efes tied the score at 59, still Olympiacos with Fournier scoring closed the third period up by five (70-65).
However, the hosts had the last word. Jordan Nwora tied the score at 82 and then Elijah Bryant gave them the 85-82 lead with three minutes left.
The answer of Olympiacos was two free throws by Fournier and two more by Moustapha Fall to take the lead back (86-85).
Larkin scored again (87-86) and with 9.8 seconds left, Bryant made it a three-point game (89-86). Olympiacos had already made two crucial turnovers in crunch time and in the time left, Fournier missed the chance to tie the score.
Photo credit: EuroLeague