By Eurohoops team / info@eurohoops.net
Lorenzo Brown had 21 points plus five assists and Bonzie Colson posted 19 points plus seven rebounds as Maccabi Tel Aviv defeated Anadolu Efes 95 – 86 behind a superb shooting performance, especially in the final period.
“What decided the game was a lot of grit,” Brown said. Maccabi is now 8-6. “A lot of defensive stops. We focused our attention on Shane Larkin. Sent two guys on him to get him to throw the ball to whoever was on the court. Of course, we scored on the offensive end.”
“We needed this win for our sanity,” Brown added on Maccabi’s return to Belgrade after playing in Israel for the first time since the terrorist attack of October 7.
Efes had taken a 45 – 48 lead at halftime after coming back from an early 29 – 20 deficit. The two teams went hand in hand until Maccabi scored seven unanswered points to go ahead 71 – 64 early in the fourth quarter. The Yellows continued to score the ball almost unopposed and went ahead 87 – 75 with five minutes to play while Efes tried to come back but didn’t pull off the necessary defensive stops to do so.
The quartet of Darius Thompson (20 points, seven assists), Mike Daum (season-high 20 points), Shane Larkin (17 points, six assists, three steals) and Tyrique Jones (12 points, 16 rebounds) stood out for an Efes that remains quite shorthanded since Will Clyburn, Tibor Pleiss and Ante Zizic are still out.
“It was really difficult for us,” Efes coach Erdem Can said for EuroLeague TV after a result that sent his side to 7-7. ‘People can watch it again and see what happened.”
James Webb contributed 14 points for Maccabi in his highest-scoring performance with the Israeli side. He also drained two important triples down the stretch including the one that put his team up by 12 halfway through the fourth period.
Tamir Blatt added 12 points and six assists to Maccabi’s effort.
“Big win for us,” said Maccabi coach Oded Kattash. “In the end, it was our effort, especially in the second half. We adapted a bit and changed some things on defense. I liked the way react.”