Brose holds on for first win under Coach Banchi
Brose Bamberg stayed alive for another round at least as it held off the visiting Anadolu Efes Istanbul 88-79 at home on Thursday. It was the first Turkish Airlines EuroLeague win as the head coach of Brose for Luca Banchi, whose team improved to 10-16 on the season and avoided elimination, helped by Khimki Moscow Region's road win over Maccabi FOX Tel Aviv. Meanwhile, last-place Efes dropped to 6-20. Brose took the lead for good in the second quarter and ran away with a 10-0 run to open the third quarter behind Dorell Wright and Ricky Hickman. Efes never gave up, as Errick McCollum and Vladimir Stimac kept the visitors' hopes up, but Leon Radosevic made key plays down the stretch for Brose. Radosevic collected 15 points plus 9 rebounds, including a career-high 6 on the offensive end. Wright also scored 15 while Augustine Rubit had 14 points and 10 rebounds in victory. McCollum netted 21 points, Stimac fought his way for 18 in 17 minutes, while Derrick Brown scored 11 in a losing effort.
Efes started hot, with Birkan Batuk knocking down a triple and McCollum hitting a pair. McCollum had 10 points as Efes opened an 8-15 lead, but Nikos Zisis and Rubit fueled a Brose reaction that got the hosts in front 21-19. Batuk buried another three-pointer as the teams were tied at 22-22 after 10 minutes. Toney Douglas made a three from cornet to put Efes back in front to start the second, but only briefly. Dejan Musli scored three times from close range for Brose, while Lucca Staiger hit a three-pointer and Rubit converted a three-point play to put the hosts up 38-30. Brown and McCollum answered with back-to-back threes for Efes and Bryant Dunston had a three-point play as the visitors cut into the margin, leaving Brose with a 44-41 advantage at halftime.
The hosts had a great start to the third quarter, with Wright and Hickman hitting triples and Rubit doing the inside work during a 10-0 run. A tip-in from Radosevic opened up a 58-43 margin. Brown and McCollum replied, stringing together 7 points, but Wright from outside and Radosevic twice inside restored a 15-point lead before Louis Olinde's corner jumper made it 67-50 late in the third quarter. Efes was not going away, however, as McCollum and Stimac helped cut the deficit to 69-60. Maodo Lo nailed a three to keep Brose with a cushion, but Stimac kept working inside to keep Efes lurking. Daniel Hackett went length of the court for a fastbreak layup, Hickman hit an important floater, and Wright hit a three-pointer to send Brose up 83-71. But Stimac still kept Efes in it and McCollum hit a baseline jumper at 83-77. Finally, however, Radosevic came up with a pair of offensive rebounds in the final 60 seconds to help the hosts hold on.

Thursday, March 15, 2018
Euroleague.net