By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
The game between a traditional basketball power of Turkey, Anadolu Efes, and the ambitious Dogus Darussafaka ended up being decided in details. In the end, Efes got its first win in the season with 84-79.
Deshaun Thomas had 17 points and Thomas Heurtel was the key of his team with 15 and 9 assists, while Cotton Bryce added 12 crucial points. For the hosts who made 18 turnovers and had 20 assists, Scottie Wilbekin with 13 points was the top scorer.
Despite a 20-13 first quarter start and 46-35 half time lead for Darussafaka after a buzzer beater by James Anderson, Anadolu Efes managed to get back in the game thanks to its defensive effort and have the 78-77 with less than two minutes to play. Brad Wanamaker answered (79-78) and Bryce gave the lead back to Efes with 52 seconds left on the clock.
With the game on the line, Darussafaka had and missed three chances to take the lead after two offensive rebounds as Andrean Moerman, Marcus Slaughter and Scottie Wilbekin couldn’t score. The ball went to Bryce who was fouled, he made his free throws (82-78) and the game was over.
Wanamaker missed a three and nothing could change after that with Deshaun Thomas and Tyler Honneycut making two out of four free throws for the final score. The bad news for the winners came from the shoulder injury of Jayson Granger who played only 10 minutes.