It’s still early in the 2021-22 Euroleague season, but with each loss that piles up, it gets a little later a little quicker, so Anadolu Efes knew they badly needed to pick up a road win in Berlin in Round 9. With a balanced team effort, the defending champs did just that.

Vasilije Micic led the way with 19 points and nine assists, and Shane Larkin scored eight points along with six assists as Efes defeated Alba Berlin 90-63 at Mercedes-Benz Arena. Krunoslav Simon added 18 points and Tibor Pleiss had 16.

After a tightly contested first quarter, Efes blew the game open with 31 points in the second to take a 16-point halftime lead. The Efes defense shined after allowing 21 points in the first, limiting the Alba Berlin attack to an average of 14 points per quarter the rest of the way as they rolled to a 27-point win.

Efes (3-6) will look to build on their third win of the season next Wednesday when they host the Greek club Olympiacos at Sinan Erdem Sports Hall. Tip-off is slated for 8:30pm local time.