By Eurohoops team / info@eurohoops.net
Jordan Loyd scored 21 points and grabbed seven rebounds as Crvena Zvezda defeated Maccabi Tel Aviv 76 – 64 to get its first win after two straight losses. It was a match for achieving the best possible record at the end of the regular season since both teams have already been eliminated from playoffs contention.
“Obviously it’s a tough season, but we wanted to try to end on a good note for all the people at home watching, ” Loyd said. “All the fans through the good and bad times, so I’m glad we could end up on a good note at home. [Message for the fans] Just thank you.”
Red Star established its lead thanks to a 13-0 run in the third period that transformed a 35 – 39 deficit to a 48 – 39 advantage. The hosts never looked back after that and retained a margin around double digits to keep them safe.
Tyler Dorsey (14 points, Elijah Bryant (12 points) and Ante Zizizc (10 points) stood out from Maccabi that was up 21 – 32 halfway through the second period and up 33 – 34 at halftime before Zvezda’s counterattack that left them behind for good.
Out of juice
Maccabi coach Giannis Sfairopoulos commented on the max effort his players made to beat Barcelona at home two days ago, something that affected them vs. Red Star.
“I think today it was obvious that as long as we had power, we were in the game,” Sfairopoulos said. “We controlled most of the first half except the last 4 or 5 minutes. We moved the ball and played good defense and stayed really concentrated. But as the game continued to be very physical, we didn’t have the power and this is because we spent so much energy to win the previous game in overtime. I think our tank tonight was empty.