Playing against the Spanish side Unicaja Malaga on the road in the ninth week match of Euroleague Top 16, Anadolu Efes was defeated 93-90. Anadolu Efes was trailing 52-40 at the halftime of the match, played at Martin Carpena Arena.
Starting the match with Draper, Janning, Perperoglou, Saric and Lasme, Anadolu Efes got its first field goal by Draper. As Draper and Saric contributed to the score in the first minutes, Efes was trailing 13-8 after the fifth minute. Scoring with Krstic and Furkan in the remaining duration, Anadolu Efes was down 22-15 at the end of the first 10 minutes. Starting the second quarter with Cedi’s accurate free throw, Efes made it 21-26 with five points by Furkan at 11.30. With three points from the free throw line by Krstic and Bjelica, Efes was trailing 33-24 passing through the 13th minute. As Krstic’s and-one made it 27-36 at 13.30, the margin was brought to eight in the 16th minute with Bjelica and Janning’s points. 31-39. Getting another field goal by Krstic, Efes made it 33-39 at 16.30. Scoring in the remaining three minutes of the half with Lasme, Furkan and Heurtel, Anadolu Efes went to the locker room trailing 52-40 at the halftime.
Starting the second half with Krstic and Janning’s free throws, Efes, at 21.30, brought the scoring margin down to nine points: 43-52. After Lasme and Janning’s points to make it 49-57 in the 25th minute, Krstic’s nice slam dunk following the steal brought the score to 51-57 in the 26th minute. Responding to the opponent’s four points with Heurtel’s nine points in a row, Efes brought the margin down to three points at 29.30, and the third quarter was finalized with a score of 60-63. As we got our first points by Saric and Lasme in the final quarter, Efes was down 67-64 through the 31st minute. After Cedi scored our 66th point, Lasme got one from under the paint at 32.40, making it a one-point game: 68-69. Bringing the score to 72-75 with four points by Heurtel in the 34th minute, Efes brought the margin back to one point in the 35th minute with Draper’s three pointer: 75-76. After the home team made it 81-75 in the 36th minute, Efes got to 79-81 at 37.20 with points by Krstic and Perperoglou. With Saric’s two accurate free throws followed by Heurtel’s field goal, Anadolu Efes claimed the first lead of match in the 38th minute: 83-82. Trailing 86-83 while heading into the final minute of the game, Anadolu Efes managed to tie the game with two points by Saric and five points by Heurtel: 90-90. Unable to prevent the buzzer-beating three pointer from the opponent, Anadolu Efes left the court defeated 93-90.
