Anadolu Efes defeated Fenerbahçe Beko 84-79 in the Turkish derby played in the 28th week of Turkish Airlines EuroLeague.
In the match where Anadolu Efes lacked Simon and Fenerbahçe Beko lacked Vesely, Henry, Shayok and Ahmet Düverioğlu, Vasilje Micic from the home team became the top scorer of the match with 24 points. With this result, Anadolu Efes achieved its 14th victory in its 26th game. Fenerbahce Beko, on the other hand, lost their 13th in the 25th match.
Anadolu Efes; Larkin, Micic, Bryant, Moerman, Pleiss started with the top 5. Fenerbahçe Beko started the match with İsmet Akpınar, Guduric, Pierre, Polonara and Floyd.
Starting the game effectively as a team in offense and defense, Anadolu Efes closed the first quarter with 23-14, in which Micic led the score with 8 points.
With Fenerbahçe Beko’s failure to take advantage of empty three-pointers and Anadolu Efes’ good play from behind the half and three-pointer line, the home team led the way in the locker room by 16 points: 41-25.
With Fenerbahce Beko’s recovery in the third quarter and Anadolu Efes not finding the points they wanted in attack, the away team narrowed the gap. The final period of the game was reached with an 11-point lead by Anadolu Efes: 59-48.
Making an effective start in the last quarter, Fenerbahçe Beko reduced the lead to 5 with a series of 13-7, and Anadolu Efes Head Coach Ergin Ataman applied for the timeout with 6.30 left in the game: 66-61. The rest of the period was the scene of great excitement. Guduric and Şehmus Hazer led the teams in Fenerbahçe Beko and Beaubois in Anadolu Efes in the last section, which was played with mutual baskets. Anadolu Efes, who did not allow their opponent to take the lead with the extra baskets they found with Beaubois and Larkin in the last 2 minutes of the period, left the park with a 84-79 victory.
“STOP THE WAR” MESSAGE
Before the match, the players of both teams protested Russia’s operation against Ukraine, as before every EuroLeague match, by posing for photojournalists and cameramen, holding a banner with the words “Stop the war” in Turkish and “Stop the war” in the hands of the referees.