By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
Bonzie Colson had the answer every time Monaco tried to turn things around and more than that.
With a total of a season-high 27 points, Colson led Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv to the win and an 11-7 record, good enough at least for a tie in the fourth position of the standings.
It was a stellar game for him, making 11/13 FG and also adding five rebounds. “I think Bonzie Colson played his best game ever”, said Wade Baldwin about his teammate.
Of course, Colson wasn’t alone with Baldwin and Lorenzo Brown adding 12 points each, while Romas Sorking just missed the double-double (9 p. 9 r.).
“For most of the game, we played the right way and that’s a big one for us”, said coach Oded Kattash.
For the losing side, Mike James scored 27 points and seven assists, Alpha Diallo had 19 and Elie Okobo 11, but the defense was the issue throughout the game, as they dropped to a 10-8 record.
“I thought we played great defense, and that won us the game, offense just followed”, said Colson, “and when we do that, we are a special group. Special teams are winning back-to-back in double weeks, we believe we are special and we want to beat Fenerbahce next”.
Monaco’s Jordan Loyd and Matthew Strazel missed the game due to injuries.
A good start is half of everything
Maccabi managed to build a 22-10 lead in the first quarter with Kemba Walker making it a 10-point game just before entering the second period (22-12).
With Walker having nine points in six minutes of action – and not scoring after that – Monaco balanced things at the start of the second period, but Maccabi led even by 18 (46-28) after a 10-0 run with Colson already having 16 points in the game.
Monaco reacted with a quick bucket by Donatas Motiejunas and five points by James (46-35), however, the halftime score was 49-35 in favor of Maccabi after a three at the buzzer by Brown.
Things changed in the first four minutes of the second half, despite starting with a three by Wade Baldwin (52-35), as Monaco got their own 11-0 run.
James and Diallo already scored 12 points each, as they trimmed the lead of Maccabi to six points (52-46). The push of Monaco continued with Petr Cornelie making it a four-point game (56-52) by scoring his first points with a three.
Still, thanks to Rafi Menko who had nine points on 3/3 threes, Maccabi entered the last period leading by 10 (64-54).
With James taking over Monaco tried to turn things around, they cut the lead to five four times, but Maccabi had the answers and secured the win with ease in the closing minutes, entering the last two-minute mark with an 89-73 advantage.
“They deserved to win and if you play in the EuroLeague, you have to respect the EuroLeague guys who know how to get an advantage and they keep it”, said Monaco coach Sasa Obradovic after the game.