By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
Barcelona came back from down 17 points to ultimately beat Anadolu Efes 80 – 65 and capture its second win in a row in Euroleague.
“We changed our defense. Not tactically. But our attitude. This is the reason that we came back into the game,” Barcelona coach Svetislav Pesic said in his post-game flash interview.
“Our defense made the difference,” Barcelona center Kevin Seraphin agreed.
Efes had a fiery first half with 7/10 3-pointers and was leading 25 – 42 in the mid of the second period. But after the break (39 – 50), Barca applied some huge defensive pressure with heaps of aggressiveness to dominate the third period 20 – 7 and take the lead, 59 – 57, heading to the fourth quarter.
The Blaugrana kept the same intensity in their game while Efes looked more and more out of sync. With five minutes remaining the hosts took a double-digit advantage, 71 – 61 and then made it a 13-point match, 74 – 61. No other comeback was in store in this match and Barcelona improved to 8 – 7.
Pierre Oriola scored 14 points and grabbed four rebounds, being a key figure during Barcelona’s comeback. Chris Singleton had 13 points and Kevin Seraphin 13 points plus eight boards and two steals to make up for his five turnovers.
Brock Motum (13 points, six rebounds) and Vasilije Micic (11 points, seven assists) were the only players in double figures for Efes that collapsed in the second half with 15 points, in total contrast with the 50-point output of the first twenty minutes. The team is now 9-7.