Efes takes giant step to Top 16 with Spirou win

ISTANBUL

Anadolu Efes’ Serbian forward Dusko Savanovic (L) had 16 points to lead all scorers as his team beat Belgacom Spirou in a Turkish Airlines Euroleague Group C match. REUTERS photo

Anadolu Efes beat Belgacom Spirou 66-62 on Nov. 30, giving its Top 16 chances a serious boost in the Turkish Airlines Euroleague.

Forward Dusko Savanovic scored 16 points and grabbed 10 rebounds as Efes won for the second week in a row and improved to 4-3 in Group C.

The visitors jumped out to an early lead and never looked back. Efes was up by 17 early in the third quarter. Demond Mallet scored 12 third-quarter points to keep the hosts’ hopes alive and Spirou rallied in the final minute, but never came within a shot of even tying the score.

Stanko Barac added 12 points and three blocks for the winners and Sasha Vujacic scored 10.
Mallet paced Spirou with 21 points and Andre Riddick produced nine points and 10 rebounds.

Spirou lost its fifth straight game since beating Efes in Istanbul in October and dropped to 1-6.
Anadolu Efes coach Ufuk Sarıca underlined the importance of the victory.

“First of all, it’s very important for us to win tonight,” he was quoted as saying on the official website of the competition. “Spirou is a very dangerous team, but not better than us. And we played good defense in the first half. In the first game in Istanbul, Charleroi had a good shooting percentage, but not this time. We missed some shots against the zone defense, and even some free throws at the end. Nobody knows what could happen with two minutes more in this game!”