By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
In what ended up being a shootout, CSKA Moscow proved better in the details and made all the big plays down the stretch.
Mike James scored 25 points, Will Clyburn added 19, both made big threes in crunch time and CSKA Moscow got the 76-72 win over Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv.
Tyler Dorsey with a three kept Maccabi alive with 29 seconds in the clock, making it a three-point game (72-69). However, Clyburn answered with two made free throws and a block over Angelo Coloiaro putting CSKA up by five (74-69), but Scottie Wilbekin with another big three pushed Maccabi again into a striking distance (74-72).
However, Clyburn sealed the deal with two more free throws and Maccabi ultimately couldn’t steal the game.
“CSKA scored really though shots and got a small lead of about five points and then it was really hard for us to make a come back”, said Maccabi coach Giannis Sfairopoulos in the press conference. “We also made two big threes, but it was not enough”.
“It’s good to play again back home with almost 4,000 spectators or whatever it was, 3,500. It was great to see them”, admitted CSKA coach Dimitris Itoudis for playing at home.
“I think that they motivate my players, too. It was a close game. As I [said] at halftime, we needed to change a lot of things and I think we changed a lot of things in the second half. But Maccabi never gave up and as a team with a big roster, they’re big, they play big, they tried to play big with Caloiaro at the ‘3’. They were good on the boards but I think we managed to win the boards by one overall. I think we kept believing in the win and this is how the win came.”
Toko Shengelia (photo) despite scoring eight points on 3/11 FG picked up the slack in the front line for the missing center Nikola Milutinov and grabbed 12 rebounds.
Wilbekin scored 20 for Maccabi, Dorsey added 16 and Ante Zizic finished the night with 13 in a game which was close from wire-to-wire and Maccabi ended up having a 58-53 lead with five minutes left.
“In the last period we got our chance, but CSKA has the experience and the quality and knows how to come back”, added coach Sfairopoulos, “especially since they were playing in front of their fans. We couldn’t take advantage of the lead that we got”.
But after that, it was James and Clyburn’s time.
Photo credit: CSKA Moscow