The hosts tightened up their defense after the break to seal the victory
Efes beats Virtus, 89-68, for fourth straight home win

Anadolu Efes Istanbul extended its winning streak at home to four games by defeating Virtus Segafredo Bologna 89-68 on Friday evening. The visitors were superior before the break and took a 39-42 lead into the second half, but Efes tightened up its defense and outscored Virtus 22-10 in the third quarter to turn the game around. This win allowed Efes to improve its record to 14-14, while Virtus suffered its sixth consecutive loss and dropped to 7-21.
Elijah Bryant led all scorers with 21 points and Vincent Poirier bagged an 18-point, 13-rebound double-double. Shane Larkin scored 12 points and Rolands Smits added 11. Toko Shengelia paced Virtus with 17 points and Matt Morgan netted 11.
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Bryant opened the scoring from deep, but five points from Shengelia and a layup by Daniel Hackett in transition gave Virtus a 5-7 lead. Then, Bryant took his tally to an early 10 points to put Efes back in front, 17-12. Larkin netted one from downtown, but Alessandro Pajola responded with two straight triples and Morgan went 2 of 2 from the line to tie it up at 24-24 after 10 minutes.
Virtus started the second quarter with a 2-11 run inspired by Pajola and Justin Holiday. Darius Thompson answered with a three-point play before a triple from Smits and a tip-in by Poirier slashed the deficit to 34-38. Back-to-back baskets from Shengelia were followed by a buzzer-beating triple from Bryant, who brought Efes within 39-42 at halftime.
Bryant and Larkin drilled one each from beyond the arc and Poirier scored inside to put Efes ahead, 49-48. The Efes center added another 5 points to his tally and PJ Dozier sank a triple that gave the hosts a 61-52 cushion heading into the final quarter.
Dozier opened the fourth with another three, but Daniel Hackett, Momo Diouf and Nicola Akele scored inside to cut the difference to 66-58. Yet, Larkin nailed a signature off-balance triple and Bryant scored one of his own to open a 76-62 lead, which practically put the game to bed.