By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
Gaziantep achieved its most impressive victory in the season so far by defeating Anadolu Efes 99 – 96 in Istanbul in a fascinating game which was decided after 50 (!) minutes.
Andy Rautins spitted fire all over his opponents by scoring 27 points, while Jure Balazic (15 p. 10 r.) and Jawad Williams (19 p. 12 r.) both finished the game with double-double performances.
The nearly epic combining efforts of Thomas Heurtel who had a career best in scoring (35 points, 6 assists) and Jayson Granger (25 points, 6 rebounds, 4 assists) didn’t do the trick for Efes that paid the price for its lackluster defense.
The hosts seemed to have a relatively steady control of the game for 30 minutes, never losing the lead and being ahead of the score 74 – 67 three minutes before the end of the fourth quarter. But things were about to change then.
Thanks to a 2-8 partial score, coach Dedas players showed that they mean danger, making it 76 – 75, with 90 seconds to go and then Andy Rautins banged the three-pointer that sent the game to the (first) overtime. Although Efes proceeded to take a lead of five points, the American shooting guard was also the one to force the second extra period.
With the score tied 96 – 96 and only four seconds left on the clock, Earl Calloway was the one to break the stalemate in favor of Gaziantep. His teammates set the board for him to play 1 vs 1 against Jon Diebler and he grabbed the opportunity to score the winning lay – up. Diebler was called with travelling in the next play and the game was over.
Despite the defeat Anadolu Efes still has the top spot in the standings with a 21-5 record, while Gaziantep is 7th at 14-11.