By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
Partizan had the lead for most of the game, however Ercan Osmani and Efes had a different opinion about the winner.
Anadolu Efes prevailed 86-77 over Partizan Mozzart Bet with Osmani scoring 25 points and leading his team in the offense.
Rodrigue Beaubois added 12 points reaching the exclusive clubs of 3000 EuroLeague points, while the trio of Shane Larkin, Jordan Nwora, and Darius Thompson added 11 points each. Thompson also dished 11 assists.
However, it was all about Osmani who said after the final buzzer to EuroLeague TV: “I have to thank my teammates because they believed in me. And I am very lucky that I have so good teammates”.
“We have a lot of talent and any given night anybody can go off and you have seen Osmani having a career game, making big shots in the fourth quarter”, added Shane Larkin.
Tyrique Jones with 23 points against his former team was the top scorer of Partizan.
Once again plagued by injuries, Partizan dropped to 7-10, while Efes with a 10-7 record made one more step towards the playoffs.
Efes saved the best for last
Partizan opened up the game leading 27-20 and that advantage proved to be enough for a lead for most of the next three quarters. To be exact, Tyrique Jones scored eight of Partizan’s first 11 points for an 11-2 start of the game.
The guests extended their lead to nine points again (29-20) at the start of the second period, but Efes’ answer was a 9-0 run to tie the score and even took the 33-32 lead. Still, the halftime score was 38-33 for Partizan, which also closed the third period up by three (61-58).
However, the guests changed the momentum with a 7-0 run which gave them a 65-61 lead to start the last quarter. Partizan couldn’t get the lead back, on the contrary Efes built an 8-point cushion (78-70) with Osmani reaching the 24-point mark.
It was enough to close the game the right way and get the win for Efes which dominated the fourth period with a 28-16 partial score.
Photo credit: Anadolu Efes