Turkish TBL: Turk Telekom upsets Anadolu Efes in OT
The final game of Round 15 of the Turkish TBL regular season took place with the league’s leader Anadolu Efes Istanbul playing host to Turk Telekom Ankara. It was an amazing and exciting end to the round which came up with an unexpected result. Turk Telekom came up with an amazing comeback rally in the fourth quarter to force overtime. Their momentum carried them through to prevail in the extra minutes of the game and wound up taking the victory 86-91. The loss now gives Anadolu Efes an 11-4 record and marks the end of their five-game winning streak. They are still number one in the league, but have lost their one game edge over Darussafaka (11-4) and Fenerbahce Ulker (11-4). Turk Telekom (7-8) jumps up two spots in the standings to eighth place.
The game started with the hosts rushing to a 12-point lead at the end of the first period (23-11). Unfazed, Turk Telekom managed to cull the lead to single digits by the end of the first half and the score settled at 44-36. Nenad Krstic and Dario Saric came alive once again in the third frame and Anadolu Efes managed to gain control of the action in the low post, outrebounding their visitors by a significant margin. In the fourth frame, the outside shots of Turk Telekom found their mark and that was the turning point in the match. It was part of their design from the beginning. Since Anadolu Efes’ big men made the paint into a no-man’s land, the guest opted to get their points elsewhere. They shot just 12-of-33 from downtown, but that was double of their host’s output from long range. At least five of Turk Telekom’s players converted two or more three-pointers.
Imports Ben McCauley and Josh Carter led the way for Turk Telekom with 16 and 15 points apiece. They led four other teammates in double digit scoring and overcame an impressive double-double performance by veteran Nenad Krstic of Efes who came up with a game-high 18 points and grabbed 10 rebounds. Dario Saric ended the night with 14 points and seven boards.
The exciting resolution of this encountered was a testament to how competitive the Turkish TBL is this season. Even the top team can fall to a team that’s clawing its way in the middle of the pack in the standings. It’s a reminder that teams should always play their best on both ends of the floor.