Maccabi Tel Aviv held on to defeat Zalgiris 100-97 in Euroleague play over the weekend as the yellow-and-blue improved its record to 9-13 in front of over 10,000 fans at Yad Eliyahu, who cheered the club on from the tip-off all the way to the final whistle.
Roman Sorkin and TJ Leaf were busy for Maccabi Tel Aviv while Sylvain Francisco, Moses Wright, and Laurynas Birutis answered for Zalgiris as the yellow-and-blue grabbed a 27-24 lead after the opening period. Marcio Santos and Leaf helped bump up the lead, Moses Wright scored a trio of buckets, while Lundberg put in a quick seven points. But Deividas Sirvydis scored from the outside and inside as Oded Katash’s team stayed in front 52-49 at halftime.
Tre Clark had the hot hand out of the break, while Blatt also hit his shots from deep, but points from Francisco kept Zalgiris in the game, and still down 78-71 after 30 minutes. Francisco, Wright, and Lo cut the lead to just a couple of points, but a Tubelis turnover as time wound down handed Maccabi the win.
Clark, Leaf, and Sorkin all scored 17 points for Tel Aviv in the win, while Francisco led Zalgiris with 22 points, Wright put in 17 points, and Tubelis added 15 points in the loss.
“Great win for us, and it was a team effort,” Katash began. “We could have done better also on defense, but both teams executed well offensively. We did a good job on the offensive rebounds, and I’m very happy about that. Many players really got into the game, and I was really happy with the body language that we showed in the win.”
Zalgiris head coach Tomas Masiulis reflected on the loss.
“Tough game and tough loss for us, we didn’t play good defense, and we let them score a lot of points. But I felt we had a chance as Maccabi scored some tough three-pointers, and if we were patient, we could have as well. We hit some, but we missed our shots at the end.”
Maccabi big man Sorkin also spoke about the win.
“Just being home is so much fun. We’ve missed the fans so much. It’s the second game we played this season here, and I think that the fans are giving us so much energy and drive. It’s like the sixth player for us. We play so much better here. It’s not an excuse, but we really like playing at home. I feel like everybody brings their A game, and there is more energy. It’s something that when you are not feeling it, you can’t really explain it.”
Leaf also shared his thoughts about the victory.
“It was so loud there in the third and fourth quarter, it was huge for us. Without that, I’m not sure how that game ends. It’s so fun being out there. With that crowd behind you and that place just rocking, there’s nothing like it. It’s really such a blast playing basketball in front of this crowd. I cherish every second that I’m out there.”
Hapoel Tel Aviv secures win in France
In another action, Hapoel Tel Aviv defeated ASVEL Villeurbanne 81-73 as the Reds mounted a second-half comeback to secure the win in France and remain atop the standings with a 15-6 record.
The hosts jumped out to a 38-31 lead at halftime and increased their advantage to 45-33 early on in the third quarter. But Tel Aviv’s Elijah Bryant and Dan Oturu turned up the gears in the second half to help the visitors to the victory.
Oturu scored 18 points, Bryant added 17 points, and Chris Jones scored 12 points for Hapoel, while Glynn Watson scored 17 points and Shaquille Harrison scored 14 points in the loss for ASVEL.
“Congratulations to my team,” Hapoel coach Dimitrios Itoudis began. “We had to change things drastically at halftime as we wanted to be precise on what we were doing offensively. We never lost faith in what we were doing as a team, even though we were down by 12. The team reacted, and I appreciate that.”
“They were better than us and showed more talent in the end,” noted ASVEL coach Pierric Poupet. “It’s killing us to lose like this, but overall we showed a lot of good things, so heads up and keep working for the next game coming up.”
Bryant, the game’s MVP, added, “We got stops in the second half against a very talented ASVEL team. Our defense set the tone, and we now have to focus on getting better every single day.”
Oturu also spoke about the win.
“Both the first time against Villeurbanne and this time, even though the standings show that the opponent isn’t strong and is near the bottom, they play tough and they know how to play, with a good coach and they made things difficult for us. You have to respect every opponent, stick to the game plan, and that’s what we did. In the end, we managed to win, and that’s the goal.”
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