He had a career-high 25 points to lead Efes to its 10th win
Ercan Osmani leads Efes past Partizan, 86-77
Anadolu Efes Istanbul grabbed its third consecutive victory, and fourth straight at home, by topping Partizan Mozzart Bet Belgrade 86-77 at the Basketball Development Center in Round 17 on Thursday. Efes improved to 10-7 in the standings while Partizan dropped to 7-10.
Ercan Osmani paced the winners with a career-high 25 points. Rodrigue Beaubois scored 12 while Shane Larkin, Jordan Nwora and Darius Thompson each had 11 for the Efes. Thompson added 10 assists for a double-double. Tyrique Jones led Partizan with 23 points. Sterling Brown netted 15 while Duane Washington had 10 for the guests.
Game Videos
Tyrique Jones got Partizan going with a two-handed slam and Isaac Bonga bettered Vincent Poirier's layup with a three-point play. Tyrique Jones dunked again, banked in a close shot and added a jump hook that boosted Partizan's lead to 2-11. Osmani struck from downtown and Poirier erased Carlik Jones's layup with an alley-oop slam. Brown followed a driving layup with a mid-range jumper, but Osmani banked in a close shot and Thompson's three-pointer kept Efes within 12-17. Carlik Jones scored again and Brown hit a triple. Efes found a go-to guy in Nwora, who struck from beyond the arc and added a two-handed slam for a 20-22 Efes lead. Marko Nakic hit a jump hook and Bonga added a buzzer-beating three-pointer for a 20-27 Partizan lead after 10 minutes.
Tyrique Jones buried a jump hook early in the second quarter. Osmani struck from downtown and added a huge one-handed dunk that got Efes as close as 25-29. Dan Oturu hit a fadeaway jumper in a 9-0 run that Larkin capped with a driving layup. Washington rescued Partizan with a three-pointer, Larkin hit a jumper and Rolands Smits added a layup to complete Efes's comeback, 33-32. Washington scored in penetration and Aleksej Pokusevski dunked to give Partizan fresh air at 33-36. Brandon Davies buried an amazing fadeaway jumper that boosted the guests' lead to 33-38 at halftime.
Washington scored around the basket soon after the break. Nwora insisted from beyond the arc and Thompson added a triple in transition to make Partizan stop the game at 39-40. Brown joined the three-point shootout and Pokusevski took over with a driving layup. Poirier hit a mid-range jumper, Thompson struck from downtown and Osmani's alley-oop layup put Efes back in charge, 46-45. Washington scored twice in penetration, getting help from Tyrique Jones to restore a 46-51 Partizan lead. Larkin and Osmani both nailed triples either side of a Brown three-pointer for a 52-54 score. Tyrique Jones bettered Larkin's jumper with a layup-plus-foul, but Oturu dunked and Elijah Bryant's floater gave Efes a 58-57 lead. Tyrique Jones single-handedly made Partizan regain a 58-61 edge after 30 minutes.
Larkin took over with a wild driving layup early in the fourth quarter and Osmani added a floater for a 62-61 lead. Beaubois capped a 7-0 run with a triple, before Carlik Jones quickly answered with a jumper. Brown silenced the crowd with a coast-to-coast layup, but Beaubois buried another three-pointer for a 68-65 score. Osmani banked in a close shot and improved on Davies's dunk with a bomb from beyond the arc. Beaubois buried his third triple to boost the hosts' lead to 76-70 with 4 minutes left. Osmani scored around the basket and Beaubois struck from downtown. Davies joined the three-point shootout, and Tyrique Jones gave Partizan hope at 81-77. Thompson stepped up with a driving layup and Oturu's jumper sealed the outcome, 85-77, with 1:08 remaining.