By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
In a match which was decided in the very last seconds, Anadolu Efes beat Barcelona 72 – 68 taking its sixth victory in eleven games and forcing the Blaugrana to a 5 – 6 record.
Jason Granger (16 points, 5 assists) and Thomas Heurtel (14 points, 3 assists) combined for 30 points and 8 assists (half of their team’s total output) with the French play-maker being also a key character in the crucial clutch moments that gave his team victory. Heurtel was the one to dish a key assist to Bryant Dunston a basket plus foul won, which made it 68 – 68, 15 seconds before the final buzzer. While Dunston missed from the line, Tomic… accidentaly tipped the ball, hence the 70 – 68.
Tyrese Rice, who had made it 66 – 68 for Barcelona previously, was off-target in a three-point shot and Derrick Brown “wrote” the final score via 2/2 free throws. Rice (22 points, 7 assists) had also been the protagonist of Blaugrana’s comeback that made them threatening in the last stretch of the match. He was the main force behind a 0 – 13 run that spanned from the end of the third quarter to the beginning of the fourth which transformed the 54 – 39 into 54 – 52.
Efes had began building a double-digit lead since the second quarter thanks to its great defense, having received only 28 points at the end of the first half while dropping 36. Even though coach Bartzokas’ players made a dynamic effort in the end with the afforementioned run, Efes’ persistence and a bit of luck near the end, decided the outcome. The bad news for Efes was the ankle injury of Cedi Osman. Also Cotton Bryce missed the game after traveling to the States for personal reasons.