By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
In an exciting finish to the game full of ups and downs, Maccabi FOX Tel Aviv grabbed an 85-82 road win over Valencia Basket.
This win keeps Maccabi at the same record as CSKA (17-8) but behind them at the fifth spot while Valencia is seventh with 12-13.
Bojan Dubljevic gave Valencia the 77-75 lead with a triple at the two-minute mark but Scottie Wilbekin answered right back with a three-pointer of his own and then dished an assist to Tyler Dorsey for another three points which put Maccabi ahead 81-77.
But that wasn’t the end. Dubljevic was on point once more, however, Dorsey had once again a wide-open look and he used the chance to keep Maccabi ahead 84-80 which was enough for them to close the game in their favor.
Wilbekin banked 20 points with 15 coming in the second half, all from deep (5-7). Dorsey followed with 19 while Othello Hunter logged 12 points and nine rebounds.
For Valencia, Dubljevic scored 19 in addition to Maurice Ndour’s 12 and Louis Labeyrie’s 11 points.
One time out changes everything
“It’s a big win because Valencia is a very good team. They play really well, especially here [at home],” coach Ioannis Sfairoopulos said. “They’ve had great momentum so far and it wasn’t easy to play against them in Valencia. Although we talked about how we need to find our rhythm again, offensively and defensively in the second half, Valencia started with a great effort. But then we took a time out which changed everything. Firstly, we changed our defense and then everything went better.”
He also credited Wilbekin and Dorsey for their great shooting performances: “We calmed down, scored some difficult shots with Scottie and then Tyler was continuing with shooting from the outside and scoring some tough shots. I think playing good offensively while having only seven turnovers was the key to win the game.”
Maccabi started off strong with a 16-6 run led by Elijah Bryant who posted 11 points and six rebounds in the first half which despite that belonged to Valencia. The Spaniards recovered and took over the 38-33 lead by halftime thanks to Ndour’s ten points on perfect 5-5 shooting.
Valencia jumped to a 13-point lead (48-35) early on after the break but Maccabi slowly melted the deficit led by Wilbekin until it was completely gone and the guests found themselves ahead for the first time in a while (63-61). The sides stayed close throughout the final period as the game went down to the wire and Maccabi came out on top in a thriller finish.