2019-20Regular SeasonRound 2
Anadolu Efes Istanbul 106
ALBA Berlin 105
October 11, 2019 CET: 19:30
Local time: 19:30 SINAN ERDEM SPORTS HALL.

Efes outguns ALBA in OT

After neither team led by more than 7 points through 45 minutes, Anadolu Efes Istanbul registered its first win of the new season with an exciting 106-105 overtime decision against visiting ALBA Berlin on Friday at Sinan Erdem Dome. Both teams now hold 1-1 records. The teams treaded leads throughout the game, with ALBA hitting a club-record 14 three-point shots, but the backcourt duo of Shane Larkin and Vaislije Micic guided Efes to victory. Larkin finished with 26 points on 5-for-9 three-point shooting along with 5 assists and 5 rebounds. Micic had 23 points and career highs of 13 assists and 4 steals. Bryant Dunston scored 18 points, Tibor Pleiss had 16, and Alec Peters scored 14 in victory. For ALBA, Rokas Giedraitis netted 21 points, Luke Sikma had 15 plus 8 rebounds, and Tyler Cavanaugh collected 14 points and 8 rebounds. Niels Giffey added 13 points, Landry Nnoko and Peyton Siva 10 apiece. Martin Hermannsson dished 11 assist before exiting the game with an injury in the third quarter.

ALBA was hot from the start, with Sikma, Giedraitis and Jonas Mattisseck all hitting from long range in the first 5 minutes. Peters and Larkin hit from deep for Efes, but back-to-back triples from Tyler Cavanaugh had ALBA shooting 5-of-6 from long range and leading 16-23. Larkin scored 7 more points before the end of the quarter, including a triple, and Bryant Dunston's dunk put Efes in front 27-25 after 10 minutes. The teams continued trading blows in the second quarter, with Giedraitis scoring from close range and long range to make it 34-36. He scored a couple more buckets, but Tibor Pleiss inside and Micic from the corner helped the hosts take a 43-40 advantage into halftime. Both teams upped the tempo again in the third quarter. Larkin nailed a pair of triples and Micic hit a corner three for the hosts, but Sikma and Giedraitis matched them from distance to tie it at 57-57 midway through the third. With both teams putting up points at will, Peters and Dunston scored on one end, while Nnoko and Cavanaugh combined for 11 points on the other to give ALBA 65-68. Cavanaugh's triple made it 69-72 at the end of the third, before baskets from Niels Giffey, and triples by Siva and Mattisseck helped the visitors go up 80-86 in the fourth. Pleiss and Dunston fueled a 7-0 run to put Efes back in front but there were four more lead changes in the final 3 minutes before they settled for a 95-95 tie going into overtime. Larkin opened the extra session by scoring the first 7 points for Efes, including a triple, for a 104-99 lead. Sikma and Siva gave ALBA hope, but Micic made both free throws before ALBA ran out of time at the end.

Efes survives

It is hard to win when an opponent hits 14 triples on 46.7% shooting, has a hefty 41-29 rebounding advantage, and commits only 7 turnovers. However, Efes did just that.

Unsung hero

Tibor Pleiss had a great game off the bench against a team from his native country. Pleiss had 16 points on 6-for-7 two-point shooting in just 14:29 on the floor, playing a key role late in the third and early in the fourth quarter.

Oh, that third quarter!

ALBA won the third quarter 32-26 after 10 minutes in which both teams combined to make 24 of 34 field goal attempts. ALBA had 11 assists and Efes 8 in the third quarter alone.

ALBA records

This was the first time ALBA scored 100 or more points in a EuroLeague game this century. ALBA also set EuroLeague club record for PIR (127), assists (28) and three-pointers made (14).

First OT of the season

This was the first overtime game of this season, and the first overtime game in the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague since Round 21 of last season when AX Armani Exchange Milan edged Herbalife Gran Canaria 104-106.

Next week

In Round 3, both teams will be on the road in Spain next Friday. ALBA travels to face FC Barcelona, while Efes will visit Valencia Basket.

Vasilije Micic - Anadolu Efes Istanbul - EB19
Friday, October 11, 2019
Euroleague.net
Referees: LATISEVS, OLEGS; HORDOV, TOMISLAV ; ALIAGA, JORDI
Attendance: 6478 (Tentative)
By Quarter1234Extra 1
Anadolu Efes Istanbul2716262611
ALBA Berlin2515322310
End of Quarter1234Extra 1
Anadolu Efes Istanbul27436995106
ALBA Berlin25407295105
Anadolu Efes Istanbul
  Rebounds Blocks Fouls
# Player Min Pts 2FG 3FG FT O D T As St To Fv Ag Cm Rv PIR
0 LARKIN, SHANE 30:06 26 3/7 5/9 5/7   5 5 5         2 7 31
2 SINGLETON, CHRIS 14:14 2 1/2       4 4 1 1       1 1 7
4 BALBAY, DOGUS 15:59 5 1/1 1/2         3         3   4
8 GECIM, TOLGA 4:37   0/1 0/1   1   1               -1
15 SANLI, SERTAC DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
19 TUNCER, BUGRAHAN 2:36               1   1          
21 PLEISS, TIBOR 14:29 16 6/7   4/4 1 2 3     2 1   1 2 18
22 MICIC, VASILIJE 41:55 23 3/10 4/6 5/6 2 1 3 13 4 2     4 5 32
23 ANDERSON, JAMES 37:24 2 1/5     1 3 4 1       1 2 1 1
25 PETERS, ALEC 30:46 14 5/8 1/2 1/1 1 1 2         1 3 1 9
42 DUNSTON, BRYANT 30:31 18 7/7   4/6   4 4 4   1 2   3 4 26
44 SIMON, KRUNOSLAV 2:23                              
Team           1 2 3               3
Totals 225:00 106 27/48 11/20 19/24 7 22 29 28 5 6 3 2 19 21 130
        56.3% 55% 79.2%
Head coach: ATAMAN, ERGIN
Min: Minutes played; Pts: Points; 2FG M-A: 2-point Field Goals (Made-Attempted); 3FG M-A: 3-point Field Goals (Made-Attempted); FT M-A: Free Throws (Made-Attempted); Rebounds: O (Offensive), D (Defensive), T (Total); As: Assists; St: Steals; To: Turnovers; Bl: Blocks (Fv: In Favor / Ag: Against); Fouls: Cm (Commited), Rv (Received); PIR: Performance Index Rating
ALBA Berlin
  Rebounds Blocks Fouls
# Player Min Pts 2FG 3FG FT O D T As St To Fv Ag Cm Rv PIR
1 MASON, MAKAI 4:18 2 1/1           1         2   1
3 SIVA, PEYTON 19:51 10 0/1 1/8 7/8   1 1 2 2 2     2 6 8
5 GIFFEY, NIELS 26:22 13 4/4 1/2 2/2 1 3 4 4     1   2 2 21
6 DELOW, MALTE DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
9 MATTISSECK, JONAS 23:03 8 1/2 2/3   1   1 3 1 1     1   9
10 SCHNEIDER, TIM 16:43 4   1/2 1/2 1   1             1 4
15 HERMANNSSON, MARTIN 20:40 4 2/6       1 1 11   2   1 2 1 8
25 OGBE, KENNETH 9:18 4 2/3       3 3           1 1 6
31 GIEDRAITIS, ROKAS 31:28 21 5/9 3/5 2/2 2 4 6     1   1 1 4 22
34 CAVANAUGH, TYLER 18:41 14 2/6 3/6 1/1 1 7 8   1     1 1 2 16
35 NNOKO, LANDRY 23:42 10 5/6     4 1 5 2     1   4 1 14
43 SIKMA, LUKE 30:54 15 3/10 3/4   2 6 8 5   1     5 1 15
Team           2 1 3               3
Totals 225:00 105 25/48 14/30 13/15 14 27 41 28 4 7 2 3 21 19 127
        52.1% 46.7% 86.7%
Head coach: GARCIA RENESES, AITO

Head Coaches

ATAMAN, ERGIN
Anadolu Efes Istanbul
"Congratulations to ALBA, on the road they scored 14 three-point shots on 46%. They played an excellent game. Also on offense, especially in the second half with Micic and Larkin together, we played our game, with many assists. Micic 13 assists. But we did not have contribution from our forwards. Anderson played 37 minutes, scored 2 points; Tolga Gecim the same. It is a problem for us, but the main problem for us was our defense. But they scored incredible, they really played an excellent game. You can see that the start of this season is very tough. Every game is difficult in the Euroleague. Tonight, ALBA played a perfect game, and it is important that we found a way to win."
GARCIA RENESES, AITO
ALBA Berlin
"I want to congratulate to Efes for the victory. I am very happy with my team, playing to our limit. The only thing I am not happy about is the injury of Martin Hermannsson, to have one more player in this situation. The way they played, I am very satisfied because for us, it is very difficult to play at this level, but we had opportunities to win. It is true we have a problem with Peyton Siva, he was without practice for three weeks, and it was very difficult for him but he fought very well. And with Martin out it was difficult, and I am talking about next games, too. At the end we did not foul, and it was a mistake. Efes did very well in that situation. They did not shoot until the last second of their possession."

Players

LARKIN, SHANE
Anadolu Efes Istanbul
"It was a long time coming. It's been months since I was able to compete in the EuroLeague. It felt good to be out there, felt good to get a win in front of our fans, and happy to be back. Offensively, we are going to be one of the best teams. We have a lot of great players, a lot of shooters, a lot of guys who can drive, finish around the rim. So, if we want to get back where we got last year, we have to lock in on the defensive end, and today we did not do that great of a job. ALBA has a lot of guys who can shoot; everybody on the court can shoot a three. They spaced us out and made us work. But it was a good learning experience and the next time we are going to play a team like that, I am sure we are going to be more prepared."
MICIC, VASILIJE
Anadolu Efes Istanbul
"The main thing for us was to keep our concentration for the whole game. ALBA had an amazing game, and at halftime we saw it will not be an easy game. They are a really good team. We have more experience in these kind of a games, and we showed that in overtime. For me, the most important thing is the experience we are getting while we are playing on the court in the crucial time. You can't get used to it unless you get into this kind of situation. I think it showed today we were calm, ready to play until the end. The one-point difference is not something we care about. It is not something important in this part of the season. We just cared about a win."