by Eurohoops Team / info@eurohoops.net
What a finish for Bayern Munich in Istanbul, as they scored 30 points in the final 10 minutes, turned the score around, and defeated Anadolu Efes 89-81 in Sinan Erdem Dome.
Othello Hunter led the winning side with 18 points and nine rebounds, as he also scored a couple of important shots in the final period.
“We just kept believing, and we hit shots and got stops. My teammates get me open, it’s all from them. Nothing from me, it was all just them,” Bayerns hero Hunter said.
Cassius Winston and Augustine Rubit followed him with 14 points each, with the US playmaker adding eight assists. Niels Giffez scored 11, and Ognjen Jaramaz 10 points for the Bavarians.
Vasilije Micic got 15 points for Efes, Elijah Bryant added 13, and Tibor Pleiss 11.
Bayern played well from the beginning, but Anadolu Efes managed to take control late in the second period and went to the break with a 40-36 lead.
Efes spread the wings in the third quarter, and with a 14-3 run got to a 57-41 lead. It seemed that everything is over for Bayern.
Still, they refused to give up and managed to trim the deficit to just five points before the final period (64-59).
“It was a very sad loss for us. We played excellent basketball in the first 25 minutes of the game, then suddenly we stopped playing basketball. I have no idea why, so it’s not easy to comment. Frankly, we did everything that could be done, we kept the rotation active and constantly looked for different options, but when we didn’t get any shots on offense, we forgot to defend,” Ergin Ataman stated at the press conference.
Possession by possession, Andrea Trinhcieri’s team got more and more under the skin of the host, and midway through the second period managed to turn the score around.
Then Giffey, Rubit, and Hunter scored three shots from beyond the arc in around 60 seconds and grabbed a six-point lead (83-77). Efes never recovered, and suffered their 10th loss of the season (10/10), while Bayern got to their eight win (8/12).
“We needed a veteran to show the rest of the team how we should play the match as well as the challenge, so Othello Hunter took the stage at the most critical moment and took the pressure off his teammates. We had a terrific 4th quarter, and we also dominated our opponents in rebounds. All in all, it was a great win for us,” Andrea Trinchieri said after the game.