Anadolu Efes overcomes Zalgiris with fourth quarter surge

ISTANBUL

Anadolu Efes maintain their second place following their victory against Lithuania's Zalgiris Kaunas. The Blues will now have to play against Group B leaders Real Madrid next week in a much-anticipated showdown. AA photo

Anadolu Efes earned a hard-fought 72-61 win over Zalgiris Kaunas at their home court of Abdi İpekçi Arena on Nov. 7, bouncing back after last week’s defeat in Euroleague Group B. Serbian forward Tadija Dragicevic came from the bench in the fourth quarter sending the Blues on a 12-2 run to cruise to  victory.
 
The Istanbul side succeeded in moving to 3-1 in the group, maintaining second place after Spanish giants Real Madrid. Their rivals of the day Zalgiris remained fifth after dropping to a 1-3 record.
 
Scotty Hopson led Anadolu Efes by 15 points while Dusko Savanovic and Kostas Vasileiadis each netted 13 points. But Draginovic’s 10 points – with 8 in the last quarter – along with two blocks, were crucial for the Blues to seal the victory.
 
Justin Dentmon scored 14 points for the visitors – all in the first quarter. Ksistof Lavrinovic contributed 11 points and Arturas Milaknis had 10 in defeat.
 
Efes players will face a tough challenge next week as they will travel to the leaders Real Madrid, which crushed Strasbourg 85-66 in the other game of the Group B. Elsewhere Panathinaikos got a shock 69-72 defeat at home against Lokomotiv Kuban, Maccabi Electra Tel Aviv edged Lietuvos Rytas 76-74 and Brose Basket was overpowered by Emporio Armani Milano 62-76.  
 
The other Turkish teams in competition, Fenerbahçe Ülker and Galatasaray Liv Hospital, will entertain Partizan Belgrade and Zielona Gora respectively on Nov. 7.