By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
With 3.000 fans in the gym according to local COVID protocols, Maccabi Tel Aviv got the 99-94 overtime win over FC Barcelona, a perfect morale boost for the Israelis.
Maccabi is out of the playoffs race, still getting a win in such a way after a top contender was a great reminder about what the Israeli is able to do and how much they missed their fans during the 2020-21 season because of the pandemic.
“This is for them”, said Maccabi coach Giannis Sfairopoulos after the end of the game. “It was only 3,000 fans, but they sounded like it was a full gym”.
Ante Zizic with 24 points and Dragan Bender with 16 led the charge, however, Elijah Bryant with two free throws sealed the deal.
As Bended said: “We never gave up. Like I said before the game, these last five games we’ve got to fight until the end. We’ve got to get better in every game and continue in the Israeli League. In the last five games, everybody wants to come out and show up. As long as we play together, we’ll have nights like this. Tonight was a total team effort. We had five or six guys scoring in double digits and we played great defense. Obviously, there were some mistakes but that’s part of the game.”
Barcelona had the chance to send the game to a second overtime, but Brandon Davies couldn’t make a wide-open three, Oz Blayzer got the rebound, and with two more free throws, he added the cherry on the top.
Chris Jones (photo) lost the chance to win the game in regulation when he missed his shot at the buzzer, but Maccabi managed to beat the top EuroLeague title contender. Nikola Mirotic with 23 points and Cory Higgins with 20 points were the top scorers of the losing side, which remains at the first place of the standings with a 23-9 record, while Maccabi has a much more modest 13-17 record.