Beşiktaş, Efes meet in finals’ game two

ISTANBUL

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Beşiktaş Milangaz will meet Anadolu Efes in the second game of the Beko Turkish Basketball League (TBL) final series tonight. The match at the Sinan Erdem Dome starts at 7 p.m.

Efes started the series with having the home-court advantage, but lost it after losing the opening game of the series on May 29.

On Tuesday, the Black Eagles won 82-75 to take a 1-0 lead in the best-of-seven-series.

British forward Pops Mensah-Bonsu had 18 points and seven rebounds to lead Beşiktaş Milangaz to the crucial victory, while Zoran Erceg and Carlos Arroyo each added 15 points.

Efes point guard Kerem Tunçeri’s 15-points and seven assists were not enough for the win. Oliver Lafayette had a nearly double-double performance with 10 points and nine assists for Efes.

Beşiktaş Milangaz coach Ergin Ataman expressed the importance of the win.

“It was important to win here. We had our fans supporting us, but still, Efes was playing at its home court … Now we have stolen the home-court advantage. But it is a long series and we still have to win three games.”

“We were the better team throughout,” Ataman added. “Today we could have won even by a bigger margin.”

Anadolu Efes coach Ilias Zouros admitted the best team won.

“I congratulate Beşiktaş Milangaz, they deserved their win,” the Greek coach said. “We were very bad on the court, especially at the defensive end … But this was just the first match. We have more games to turn the series around.”