Crazy group. Just two days ago, Maccabi Tel Aviv lost away to Willerban and tonight (Friday) it achieved one of the most prestigious victories in the Euroleague with a dramatic 67:68 away win over Barcelona. For the first time in 15 years, the Yellows won at Palau in Organa and improved their balance at the factory to 6: 9.
They scored for Maccabi: Dargen Bender 15 points, Tyler Dorsey 14, Elijah Bryant 10, Othello Hunter 10, Scotty Wilbkin 7, Angelo Cloiaro 4, Ante Žižić 2, Chris Jones 2, Omri Caspi 2 , John Dibertolomeo 2.
They scored for Barcelona: Corey Higgins 16 points, Kyle Kuric 12, Nikola Mirotic 12, Nick Klats 11, Artem Postovi 8, Roland Smiths 5, Alex Abrins 3.
The hall in Barcelona is where Maccabi Tel Aviv has lost the most times in a row, with ten losses in the last 15 years. Tonight, Othello Hunter’s dunk 13 seconds to go broke the streak and gave him his first victory since 2005.
The outstanding player in the yellow was Bender with 15 points and a career high in the Euroleague, when towards the end Bryant took over things with a lot of leadership. In addition, the yellow defense stopped the Catalans and made them look bad on the offensive side. The game was close throughout and after 35 minutes it seemed that the syndrome of the last quarter attacked Maccabi again.
Sapropoulos’ team did not score a field goal for 4 minutes and Barcelona took advantage of this to escape with a 0: 8 run. However, this time Maccabi did not give up and after the big basket of Hunter, it took advantage of the sins of Higgins and Koric to achieve a prestigious and second consecutive victory in Spain.
The Yellows proved a lot of character after the dramatic loss to Wheelerban and managed to beat one of the better teams in the factory. Also, Omri Caspi did score only two points, but recorded an eighth victory in a row when he was on the floor with Maccabi.
So what’s next? Maccabi Tel Aviv is currently waiting for two home games in which it can win to generate momentum. It will start against Panathinaikos and continue against Zenit St. Petersburg. On the other hand, Barcelona, whose balance has dropped to 4:11, will meet Andulo Zero.
the progress of the game
Quarter 1
The Yellows started well thanks to the excellent shooting ability of Elijah Bryant and Dragon Bender and made a good defense for the Spaniards on the way to 4: 7. Wilbkin delivered a great assist to Othello Hunter, who finished with a dunk and set up an 8:13 lead for the visitors. Next, Hunter and Bender made double blocks and put a lot of energy into the yellow side, before Caspi buried two points. 12:17 to Maccabi at the end of the first 10 minutes.
Quarter 2
Koric opened the second quarter sharp with two threes that balanced to 20:20. However, Maccabi continued to control the parquet and two of Wilbkin raised it to 22:26. The star closed out the first half with five assists, but the Yellows fell 32:30 behind.
Quarter 3
Barcelona opened the second half with two threes and increased the gap, but points from Wilbkin and Cloiaro kept Maccabi close and Bender gave them back the advantage. Then, Klats and Higgins’ quick points set up a 5-point lead for Barcelona. Bryant’s 5 straight points towards the end of the quarter brought the Yellows down with a minimal lag.
Quarter 4
The game continued to be close and Dorsey’s three points set 56:57 for Barcelona, two minutes to go. Bryant with good minutes raised the Yellows to 59:63. With Zatz, two lashes from the Spaniards outside the arc gave them back the lead.