Milan outlasts Efes to close in on playoff berth

Curtis Jerrells got hot in the fourth quarter to lead EA7 Emporio Armani Milan to a hard-fought 76-69 win over visiting Anadolu Efes Istanbul on Friday night at Mediolanum Forum in the Fashion Capital. The win took Milan ever closer to a playoffs berth. Despite not having the Turkish Airlines Euroleague’s leading scorer Keith Langford in the lineup, Milan found the way to win its fourth straight game, improving to 8-3 and staying in sole possession of second place in Group E. Meanwhile, Efes dropped to 2-9, and lost all mathematical chances to advance. The visitors led for majority of the contest, but never more than 41-48 midway through the third quarter. But Milan rallied back, before Jerrells took over by scoring 11 of his 17 points in the fourth quarter, including three triples and a layup with one minute to go that sealed the deal. Alessandro Gentile added 15 points for Milan, Samardo Samuels amassed 14 points plus 12 rebounds, while Daniel Hackett and David Moss scored 10 apiece in victory. Milko Bjelica finished with 16 for Efes, while Jamon Gordon had 12 points plus 8 assists, and Kostas Vasileiadis also scored 12 in defeat