By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
Maccabi knew that they had more than a chance to get the road win in Milan and took it thanks to Lorenzo Brown.
The guests prevailed in a close contest (77-71) with Brown scoring 20 points and dishing eight assists, while Roman Sorkin added 14 crucial points each and Jarrell Martin had 15.
Without the injured duo of Wade Baldwin and injured Alex Poythress, Brown made things happen and Sorkin proved to be the ace on the sleeve of coach Oded Kattash.
“The most important number was beating them in rebounds”, said Kattash after the game as his team finally prevailed on the road having 38 rebounds compared to Milan’s 25. “Still, even getting six out of seven at home is never easy”, he added talking about the first road win of the season.
The game was more than close with the score being tied at the end of the first quarter (21-21) and the third (59-59). The hosts managed to get a 40-32 halftime advantage but it was shortlived as Maccabi managed to score 27 points in the third period, after scoring just five more in the whole first half.
However, with Roman Sorkin scoring back-to-back baskets, Maccabi entered the last five minutes leading by four (66-62) as once again Milan was running out of fuel at the end of the night.
Brown stole the ball from Billy Baron, Bonzie Colson made a three having in total 10 points and the Israelis were suddenly up by seven (69-62). Still, with Baron answering back and Nicolo Melli making a huge three, Maccabi was up by one (71-70) with two minutes left.
“We’ve been fighting on the road for the past few months, and we just wanted to get it done,” Brown commented on the first away win of the season. “I’m sure they wanted to win just as bad as we did, but someone had to win tonight. It just came down to our defense and our team collectiveness.”
“I think we all won it. We really needed a road win,” chipped in Sorkin, “We were desperate for it.”
Once again Sorkin scored back-to-back buckets (75-70) and Milan couldn’t get back into sticking distance. Baron finished the game with 18 points, Melli had 12 and Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot added 14.
“Our defense was not good enough in the fourth quarter, we will keep working and see what will happen”, said Milan’s coach Ettore Messina.
Still, once again nothing clicked with the hosts missing Kevin Pangos, Gigi Datome, and Shavon Shields, making just 13/22 free throws and having a 3-10 record, while Maccabi jumped to 7-6.