By Eurohoops Team / info@eurohoops.net
Anadolu Efes got past Darussafaka Tefken (88 – 93) in Istanbul’s derby for Day 9 of the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague and continued its winning streak. Currently, Efes has an impressive 7-2 record, while Darussafaka slipped to 1-8.
The hosts challenged Efes in the first quarter as Muhammed Baygul’s was leading the way offensively. After 10′, Darussafaka was up 23-19. The game remained competitive in the second period as Ahmet Arif’s team kept this four-point lead (46-42). The two teams combined for just six turnovers in the first half.
The story of the game, however, was Efes‘ third period. With an impressive 5-22 run to start the quarter, Ergin Ataman’s squad went up ahead by double-digits for the first time in the game (51-64), and since then, never looked back. Rodrigue Beaubois, Vasilije Micic and Tibor Pleiss sparked the visitors’ run. It is significant to note that the visiting team scored 25 points in just five minutes of playing time in the third period.
“In the beginning, we saw that we were not ready. We allowed easy baskets in the first half and nine points from offensive rebounds. Rodrigue Beaubois had zero points in the first half and Adrien Moerman was 1-of-6 from the field. We improved our defense in the second half and started to find our regular scorers, Beaubois, Larkin, Simon. We played perfectly in the third quarter,” said Anadolu Efes’ head coach, Ergin Ataman right after the final buzzer.
In the final period, the hosts tried to come back, and even cut the deficit to three points (83-86), thanks to Michael Eric and Zanis Peiners but could not complete the comeback. Adrien Moerman and Beaubois’ three-point clutch-shots in the final minutes won it for the visitors.
Beaubois was once again excellent for the winners, as he scored a game-high 24 points (6/7 3FG) (all of his points came in the second half) and handed out five assists, while Vasilije Micic orchestrated Efes’ offense with nine points and eight assists. Ten players from the winners scored. For the losing side, Eric finished the game with 18 points.
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