Thanks to Bryant Dunston and Tyler Honeycutt, Anadolu Efes pulled clear of Barcelona in the final 15 seconds to secure a 72-68 home win on Friday night.
A three-pointer from Tyrese Rice gave Barcelona their first lead at 68-66 lead with 46 seconds left and it looked to be the dagger. But two scores from Dunston and Honeycutt gave the lead back and they held on to improve to 6-5, while Barca falls to 5-6.
Jayson Granger scored 16 points and dished out five assists for the winners.
“It is a big victory for us tonight,” said Thomas Heurtel, who added 14 points.
“I think in second half we showed character and we are happy to win this game tonight. We played good defence, as I said we showed character, we moved the ball well, everyone was involved on the team and I think we played good basketball.”
Rice led all scorers for Barcelona with 22 points.
Baskonia were untroubled as they eased past a poor Darussafaka Dogus side 73-52 in Vitoria to get their fourth straight win.
Baskonia moved up to 7-4 while Darussafaka dropped to 5-6. Shane Larkin led the winners with 14 points. Rodrigue Beaubois added 12.
“We have started very well and have played with very good intensity during all 40 minutes,” said Baskonia coach Sito Alonso. “For me, it has been the key to beat a very good team like Darussafaka. I am very happy with this kind of intensity and mentality. We have to keep it going for the next games.”
Panathinaikos also had no issues as they overcame 85-58 home win over Galatasaray in Athens.
The hosts raced to an early 14-4 lead and never looked back as they improved to a 6-5 record. Nick Calathes, Kenny Gabriel and K.C. Rivers all hit 14 points to lead the winners.
Down the road, Olympiacos also secured a straightforward victory as they beat Unics Kazan 88-59 in Piraeus.
Olympiacos improved to a 7-4 record, while Unics dropped to 3-8, tied for the last place in the standings.
An Olympiacos win was never in doubt, as they controlled things from the get-go behind its defence. It’s the biggest win of the season for Olympiacos, and the second time this season that its defence allowed fewer than 60 points.
Matt Lojeski had 15 points to lead Olympiacos. Keith Langford led Unics with 25.
