Efes dominates second half to upend Fenerbahce

Anadolu Efes rallied from a 16-point second-half deficit to defeat archrival Fenerbahce 89-83 at Sinan Erdem Dome in the first Istanbul derby of the season. The hosts outscored Fenerbahce 51-31 in the second half to claim the victory and improve to 3-1 on the season, while dropping the visitors to the same record. Rodrigue Beaubois paced the Efes attack with 17 points and 4 assists, Adrien Moerman posted 15 points and 10 rebounds, Vasilije Micic amassed 13 points and 6 assists and Tibor Pleiss also scored 13. Efes made 13 of 23 three-pointers (56.5%). Jan Vesely shined for Fenerbahce in defeat with 24 points, 8 rebounds and 7 assists, Nicolo Melli added 14 points, Kostas Sloukas tallied 11 points and 8 assists and Marko Guduric scored 10.

Fenerbahce took charge early with Vesely and Guduric each scoring twice in a 0-10 surge that made it 9-22. After an Efes timeout, Kruno Simon buried a three-pointer, but the visitors continued their domination to lead 12-26 after 10 minutes. Micic sank a pair of threes to trim the deficit to 22-30 and the hosts remained hot from behind the arc to stay within striking distance. Once Melih Mahmutoglu got going for Fenerbahce, the difference swelled to 16 and settled at 38-52 at halftime. Pleiss and Micic each scored twice in a 12-0 third-quarter run that brought Efes within 52-56 and prompted a Fenerbahce timeout. Soon after, back-to-back triples by Pleiss and Moerman tied the game at 58-58. Bryant Dunston's post work gave Efes its first lead since the opening minutes, 64-62, and the hosts held a 66-65 edge at the end of the quarter. Efes nursed a slim lead for must of the fourth quarter and went ahead 83-77 on a Dunston hook shot with less than two minutes remaining and free throws by Simon and Moerman iced the game late.

Second-half heroes

A virtual non-factor in the first half, Moerman went for 13 points and had all of his 10 rebounds after the halftime break. Beaubois scored 12 and dished all of his 4 assists in the second half. As a team, Efes shot 14 for 22 on two-pointers (63.6%) in the second half and sent out 12 assists while comitting just 1 turnover.

Decisive squence

After Guduric's layup made it 78-77 with less than three minutes left, Beaubois stepped up with a clutch triple over the same Guduric to keep the hosts in control. The Efes spotted Dunston in a mismatch in the paint with Sloukas, whom he overpowered. A Fenerbahce timeout did not stop Efes; Moerman drove through Melli and suddenly the home team led by 8 with only 96 seconds to play.

Vesely's big game

Vesely put together one of the best all-around performances of his career, which will sadly be overlooked because of the final score. He set a career-high with 7 assists and matched a career-best in performance index rating with 36. Vesely made 10 of 12 two-point shots en route to his 24 points and was also an efficient 4 of 5 from the foul line.

Next game

Fenerbahce will look to get back on track when it hosts FC Bayern Munich next Thursday while Efes faces a stiff test when it visits AX Armani Exchange Olimpia Milan in Italy.