Back-to-back continental champion Anadolu Efes Istanbul aced its first big date of the new season by turning back archrival Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul 62-71 on Wednesday to lift the 36th President's Cup in Ankara, Turkey.
The defensive-minded victory marked the 13th that Efes has won the trophy, following on previous such achievement in 2018. Efes got off to a good start and led 23-15 after one quarter, then clamped down defensively to surge ahead by 42-23 at halftime, by which time its new center, Ante Zizic, had 16 points. Efes more less maintained that margin at 54-36 after 30 minutes and withstood a strong fourth quarter by Fenerbahce to win by 9 points at the finish.