EA7 Milan sets club record with 105 points in beating Efes

EA7 Emporio Armani Milan dominated for much of the game and hit 13 three-point shots en route to defeating visiting Anadolu Efes Istanbul 105-92 on Thrusday night at Mediolanum Forum. The win snapped Milan’s three-game losing skid and it now stands at 3-3, while Efes fell to 2-4. With 105 points, Milan broke its club record for points scored in a EuroLeague game, which it set last week when it put up 102 points in a double-overtime win against Bamberg. This time, Milan needed no overtime as it was on fire from downtown and had seven players score at least 9 points. Rakim Sanders led the way with 22 points and 7 rebounds, while Krunoslav Simon shined with 14 points, 9 rebounds and 8 assists. Alessandro Gentile netted 17 and Miroslav Raduljica finished with 13 in victory. Efes had five double-digit scorers and collected 17 offensive boards, but was not enough. Thomas Heurtel tallied 18 points and 7 assists, Bryant Dunston collected 17 points and 8 rebounds, and Derrick Brown scored 16 points with 7 rebounds. Cedi Osman added 14 points and DeShaun Thomas 10 for Efes.

Osman scored the first 8 points for Efes, but Gentile had 6 points early for the hosts and Raduljica a three-point play, before triples from Sanders and Ricky Hickman opened a 23-16 margin. Brown helped Efes close within 25-24 at the end of first, but Milan netted the first 8 points to start the second stanza, with Mantas Kalnietis scoring a three-point play and Simon adding a triple to make it 33-24. More three-pointers from Simon, Kalnietis and eventually Sanders opened a 48-34 lead midway through the second quarter. After a Velimir Perasovic timeout, Efes scored 6 straight points, followed with threes from Heurtel and Thomas. The visitors cut the deficit all the way to 3 points. But Gentile hit a half-court buzzer beater to make it 55-49 at halftime, and after the break, Milan quickly restored a double-digit margin on Awudu Abass’s triple. Efes countered with a run that Dunston capped with a dunk to get within 68-62. But Milan answered by scoring the next 8 points and a monster Sanders dunk on a fast break restored a 14-point margin. Milan entered the fourth quarter up 79-67 and Efes tried with some 1-3-1 zone defense, which worked in its first-half rally. But Abass hit his third three of the night, which opened an 87-71 lead with seven minutes left and Milan cruised the rest of the way. The hosts reached the century mark in the final two minutes, and eventually got to 105 points, a club record in EuroLeague competition.