By Can Erozden
ANKARA (AA) - Turkish basketball club Anadolu Efes hammered France's Monaco 98-77 in a Turkish Airlines EuroLeague Round 11 game in Istanbul on Friday.
The defending EuroLeague champions bagged their fifth victory of the season and their third win in a row.
The Istanbul team previously beat ALBA Berlin 90-63 and Olympiacos 88-69 in previous EuroLeague's rounds.
Anadolu Efes led the entire game Friday against Monaco but the French opponents narrowed the gap to six with eight minutes left.
But after a time out in the fourth quarter, the Istanbul club's playmaker guard Shane Larkin scored a crucial three-pointer to make it 76-67.
Anadolu Efes controlled the remained of the game and extended their lead down the stretch.
French guard Rodrigue Beaubois scored 17 points to go along with seven assists for Anadolu Efes.
Larkin racked up 14 points and French power forward Adrien Moerman also added 14.
It was a historic night for Moerman as the 33-year-old grabbed seven boards to reach the 1,000-rebound threshold in the EuroLeague.
Playing in the EuroLeague for nine seasons, Moerman had 993 rebounds in 193 games.
An Anadolu Efes member since 2018, he previously played for Entente Orleanaise, SLUC Nancy, Limoges CSP, Darussafaka Dogus, and Barcelona Lassa in the EuroLeague.
He helped Anadolu Efes win the 2021 EuroLeague title.
Monaco were led by Donatas Motiejunas.
Lithuanian center Motiejunas scored 21 points, followed by Paris Lee, who added 18.
Monaco's US star Mike James had a disappointing performance with just 4 points.
Anadolu Efes is now 10th in the standings with a 5-6 record.
Monaco suffered their second straight loss as the French club were defeated by Israel's Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv 95-84 in the previous fixture.
The Red and Whites have five wins and six losses in the 2021-22 EuroLeague regular season.
- Fenerbahce Beko lose to retain poor run
The other Turkish club, Fenerbahce Beko, visited Lithuania's Zalgiris Kaunas and lost 86-75.
Fenerbahce Beko led the first quarter 18-16 but Zalgiris bounced back in the second period to take a 38-29 lead before the break.
By the end of the third period, Zalgiris were leading 64-59 as the visitors scored 30 points.
The home team was dominant and did not let Fenerbahce Beko challenge in the final quarter in which Zalgiris scored 22 points.
Fenerbahce Beko were handed their eighth loss on Friday -- to make it three defeats in a row.
The Istanbul club have three wins in 11 games.
Edgaras Ulanovas scored 18 points and Zoran Dragic had 13 for Zalgiris.
Mantas Kalnietis had a solid performance with 11 points and 11 assists.
Tai Webster added 11 points for Zalgiris.
Three Fenerbahce Beko players were in double digits; French playmaker Nando De Colo scored 17, US guard Pierria Henry had 13 and Czech center Jan Vesely added 13 in Lithuania.
In the next round, Fenerbahce Beko will play city rivals Anadolu Efes at home on Nov. 25.
- Results
UNICS Kazan - ALBA Berlin: 85-71
Anadolu Efes - Monaco: 98-77
Zenit - AX Armani Exchange Milan: 74-70
Zalgiris Kaunas - Fenerbahce Beko: 86-75
Olympiacos - Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv: 90-73
Bitci Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz - CSKA Moscow: 74-80
LDLC ASVEL Villeurbanne - Barcelona: 60-80