By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
Victory no. 11 for Anadolu Efes in the EuroLeague regular season came with a 90-86 final score after a fantastic second half thanks to which they defeated Olimpia Milano in “Abdi Ipekci”.
The Turkish team is at the eighth place of the standings, while the “Red Shoes” are now 7 – 15 with the postseason being far from their reach. It’s obvious that the game went to the team that wanted it and needed it more.
It was that kind of determination that helped Efes come back from being down by 14, 40 – 54 at the break and ultimately win the match thanks to the huge efforts of Tyler Honeycutt (16 points, 5 rebounds, 3 assists), Jayson Granger (12 points, 6 rebounds, 4 assists), Thomas Heurtel (15 points, 6 assists) and x factor Dogus Balbay (9 points, 5 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals).
The latter was responsible for some big-time hustle plays and monstrous defenses that put a stop to Milano’s raving first-half action that helped them even lead by 19 (46-27) in the mid of the second period. Ηowever the rest of the game was a pretty different story.
The hosts cut the lead to 14 at half time (54-40), then at five at the end of the third (74-69) and completed their comeback at the end. For the guests Rakim Sanders proved that his injury is a thing of the past with 18 points, but in the end the Turks got their way.