Anadolu Efes books ticket to Final Four

ISTANBUL

Anadolu Efes held off AX Armani Exchange Milan 75-70 in Game 4 at Sinan Erdem Sports Hall on April 28 night to wrap up their best-of-five Turkish Airlines EuroLeague playoff series 3-1 and book a spot in the Final Four.

After Milan erased a double-digit deficit with a 0-14 run that spanned the third and fourth quarters to lead 62-66, Efes went on an 11-2 run to regain control and close out the game and series.

Tibor Pleiss was magnificent with 25 points and just one missed shot for Efes, reigning EuroLeague MVP Vasilije Micic added 20 and Shane Larkin contributed with eight points and seven assists.

Luigi Datome scored 21 for Milan and Kyle Hines posted 10 points and 12 rebounds in the loss.

Anadolu Efes coach Ergin Ataman was delighted to have led his team to a second consecutive Final Four after winning the title last year.

“I’m so happy for my team, for my players because this team deserves to be back in the Final Four,” he said after the match.
Ataman thanked the club supporters for the amazing atmosphere they created against Milan and promised them another EuroLeague trophy.

“Just two more games for the title,” he said. “I said last week that we will win again, we will go back-to-back. Now everyone can see that we are in the Final Four, and we will win again!”

This year’s Final Four will be played in Belgrade on May 19-21. Two more teams, the winners of Bayern Munich vs. Barcelona and AS Monaco vs. Olympiacos playoff clashes, will join Anadolu Efes and Real Madrid in the Serbian capital for the final event.