Turkish basketball clubs advance to EuroLeague playoffs

By Can Erozden

ANKARA (AA) - Turkish basketball powerhouses Anadolu Efes and Fenerbahce Beko secured a place in the 2021 playoffs of the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague on Tuesday.

Both Istanbul clubs chalked up road wins as Anadolu Efes hammered their Spanish opponents Real Madrid 108-83 and Fenerbahce Beko beat Germany's Bayern Munich 77-68.

Turkish center Sertac Sanli was Anadolu Efes's top scorer with 17 points. Playmaker guard Shane Larkin scored 16 points to contribute to the large win in Madrid.

Anadolu Efes' Krunoslav Simon added 15 points.

Trey Thompkins scored 19 points for Real Madrid while Spanish star Rudy Fernandez produced 13 points for the Whites.

Anadolu Efes bagged 21 wins in 32 games to qualify for the next stage. Meanwhile, their city rivals Fenerbahce Beko improved to 20 victories in the regular season.

French playmaker Nando De Colo led Fenerbahce Beko to score 21 points against Bayern Munich in Germany. Marko Guduric produced 18 points for Fenerbahce Beko as well.

The Turkish club's Czech star Jan Vesely racked up 15 points.

Bayern Munich's American guard Wade Baldwin IV was his team's highest scorer with 20 points.

Anadolu Efes and Fenerbahce Beko are guaranteed to join Spain's Barcelona, Russian team CSKA Moscow and Italian club AX Armani Exchange Milan in the playoffs.

Only the best eight teams will be in the 2021 playoffs, so three others are awaited.

The EuroLeague regular season will end after the Round 34 matches on April 8-9.