By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
Vasilje Micic had one more strong showing, set the tone early and led Anadolu Efes to the easy 92-77 win over Bayern Munich.
The Serb guard finished the night with 20 points, five assists, four rebounds, and two steals as Efes registered win number 10 and remains among the top four of the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague standings.
“It is a very important win for us“, said coach Ergin Ataman. “Bayern has eight victories and is very close to us in the standings. We beat them twice and have a two-win advantage. It is a big step for us, for our playoffs goal.”
Micic scored 18 points during the first half leading Anadolu Efes to a comfortable 55-36 lead after 20 minutes of action. Micic missed just one shot in his first 13 minutes of action, having 4/5 threes, along with four assists.
In the paint, Bryant Dunston was also admirable with 10 points in 12 minutes and no missed shot from the field. The reaction of Bayern come in the second half which started with a 10-2 run for the guests (57-46) with Derrick Williams scoring half of those points.
However, Efes stayed in control and closed the quarter leading by 16 points (70-54) as the hosts shot 69,2% from the field. Bayern didn’t give up, but couldn’t get into striking distance and Efes kept things in check until the final buzzer.
As coach Dejan Radonjic admitted: “The second half was different for us defensively. We played much, much better in the second half, but it was not enough to make it a close game and surprise Efes. We played differently than in the first half and had a few very good situations, Dangubic was open to shoot a few times, but they were +16 at the end of the third quarter“.
The German defense was lackluster in the first half and that ultimately costed the game. Bayern managed to cut Efes’ lead to seven (80-73) with less than three minutes left, but the hosts made all the right plays down the stretch.
James Anderson added 16 points for the winners, while Adrien Moerman had 14 and Dunston finished the game also with 16. Nihad Djedovic with 13 points and Vladimir Lucic with 14 were the top scorers of the losing side.