By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
Anadolu Efes took a huge step towards sealing a EuroLeague quarterfinals spot by beating Zalgiris Kaunas 76 – 68 on the road for the 27th Round of the regular season.
With only three games remaining, Efes improved its record 15 – 12 and cemented its position in the playoffs zone. Meanwhile, Zalgiris is 12 – 15 and has minimal, if not nonexistent, chances of advancing to postseason.
Jayson Granger dropped 25 points and dished out 8 assists while Derrick Brown scored 13 while hitting the decisive jumper for the 68 – 74, 45 seconds before the fourth quarter buzzer.
Only Lukas Lekavicius (11 points, 6 assists) and Edgaras Ulanovas (10 points) finished in double figures for Zalgiris. The Lithuanians showed two completely different in the first halves, going to the locker rooms with a production of 44 yet, managing only 24 after the break and only 9 in a destructive fourth quarter.
Efes was down 68 – 65 with 5 minutes left, but began pulling off one great defense after the other with Tyler Honeycutt (5 points, 12 rebounds) doing a splendid job on board-control and hustle plays. Coach Perasovic’s players didn’t allow any point at all for the remainder of the match and Honeycutt put his team ahead with a 3-point play after a basket plus foul won, for the 68 – 70.
The hosts kept making mistakes and losing their few wide open shots, falling more and more behind until Brown finished the job for Efes.
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