By Anadolu Agency
January 6, 2024 4:31 amISTANBUL
Real Madrid won 130 – 126 against Anadolu Efes after four overtimes Friday in Round 19 of the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague regular season.
Regular time ended with the scoreboard showing 81 points apiece and a back-and-fourth first overtime finished 91 – 91 when Shane Larkin made a pair of foul shots with eight seconds to go.
Anadolu Efes had a 9-point lead in double overtime, but the Spanish club managed to rally and extend the game at the buzzer.
The Turkish side was up in the third extra session, but a dunk by Walter Tavares with 5.3 seconds left forced a fourth overtime at Wizink Center with the score, 111 – 111.
“It is amazing what happened tonight,” Real Madrid head coach Chus Mateo said after the game. “They deserved to win. We deserved to win. Probably, it is impossible to see this in a league that is not the EuroLeague.”
Dzanan Musa helped his team, by scoring a career-high 40 points with eight assists.
Three Real Madrid players finished with double-doubles.
Mario Hezonja scored 31 points and 12 rebounds, Facundo Campazzo produced 25 points and 11 assists and Walter Tavares finished with 20 points and 12 rebounds.
Despite 32 points, nine assists and five rebounds by Larkin, Efes were unable to avoid the away loss.
Larkin became the first player in the 24-year history of the league to play more than 50 minutes — 53 minutes and 11 seconds.
“We fought, but at the end of the day it was not enough. I am proud of my players because whatever conditions we are dealing with — injuries, schedule — they fought until the end,” said Efes head coach Erdem Can.
Tibor Pleiss posted a double-double with 14 points and 11 rebounds while Darius Thompson had 21 points for the Turkish club.
The game set a record for the most combined points with 256 and was the first to reach the four-overtime mark in the EuroLeague.
Elijah Bryant from Anadolu Efes and Campazzo of Real Madrid were disqualified after picking up five fouls.
Anadolu Efes, which dropped its sixth straight game, suffered their 12th loss and Real Madrid reached their 17th win.
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