The hosts' guard trio of Beaubois, Bryant and Larkin stood tall
Efes sinks Baskonia, 92-76, for fifth straight win

Anadolu Efes Istanbul cemented its place among the postseason contenders as it blasted Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz 92-76 on Wednesday at Basketball Development Center in Istanbul for its fifth consecutive win. The victory lifted Efes's record to 17-14, which brings it within one win of sixth place. Baskonia fell to 13-18 and was formally eliminated from postseason contention.
Efes's guards led the way as Rodrigue Beaubois poured in 18 points, Shane Larkin netted 16 and Elijah Bryant paired 11 points with 8 assists, while big man Vincent Poirier was good for 10 points and 6 rebounds. Trent Forrest paced Baskonia with 17 points, 7 assists and 4 steals, Markus Howard added 15 points and Nikos Rogkavopoulos and Khalifa Diop scored 10 each.
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Beaubois set the stage for Efes with a chase-down block of Forrest and then a three-pointer second later. Tadas Sedekerskis got Baskonia going with a pair of early threes. The shooters heated up as the lead swung back and forth. Efes looked to pull away as Poirier threw down an alley-oop slam and Beaubois drilled a three-pointer to make it 14-10. Baskonia responded through Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot and Trent Forrest to even things at 18-18. Luwawu-Cabarrot shook off a pair of defenders to give the visitors a narrow lead. Dan Oturu took charge with a series of slams for Efes, which helped the hosts lead 28-22 at the end of the opening quarter.
Larkin slalomed through the Baskonia defense for the first basket of the second quarter, which completed a 10-0 run. Rogkavopoulos tried to lead the Baskonia resistance, but baskets by Darius Thompson and Jordan Nwora boosted the Efes advantage to double figures. Ognjen Jaramaz and Forrest knocked down threes for the visitors and Forrest converted a tough shot to get within 39-34. A timeout changed little as Forrest turned a steal into a three-pointer. Efes muscled up to regain control through Beaubois and Derek Willis. A deep three by Howard got Baskonia within 49-44 at the halftime interval.
Diop scored the first three baskets of the second half to give Baskonia the lead and a Sedekerskis slam prompted an Efes timeout. Bryant knocked down a pull-up jumper to end the Efes drought and he then found Ercan Osmani for a three-pointer to restore an Efes edge. Bryant bagged another jumper for a 56-52 cushion. Howard scored and then assisted Diop for a slam that evened things only for Beaubois to answer with 5 straight points. Larkin heated up with a pair of triples to give Efes a 67-59 lead at the end of the third quarter.
The Efes lead was back to double-figures after PJ Dozier scored on the first two possessions of the fourth quarter. Howard sandwiched a pair of threes around another from Larkin as Baskonia looked for answers. Chima Moneke added free throws for his first points of the night. A three by Rogkavopoulos further trimmed the deficit to 78-72. Poirier and Dozier stepped up to give the hosts breathing room. Larkin authored another highlight as his crossover dribble left his defender on the floor before sinking a jumper. Forrest continued to push Baskonia, but the Efes attack remained strong to lock up a critical win.