By Eurohoops team / info@eurohoops.net
In an unusual EuroLeague action on Wednesday, Maccabi Tel Aviv found an important victory on their path to the post-season, getting over Valencia 95-80 in the Aleksandar Nikolic Hall.
Continuing to deliver on his recent outstanding shape, Wade Baldwin IV led Oded Kattash’s team to the win with 17 points, 3 rebounds, 4 assists, and 4 steals, while drawing 7 fouls. “We came out, executed on what we needed to do. We have to win the next two games”, he said in the post-game flash interview.
His backcourt partner Lorenzo Brown had an all-around performance with 6 points, 4 rebounds, and 6 assists. “It was a great team win for us, except in the first quarter we were very good on defense. In three quarters we really slowed them down. 19 wins are a big achievement under these circumstances. We still have two more to go, that’s a challenge to us”, Oded Kattash said after getting the victory.
Maccabi Tel Aviv flew high up the rim, with Josh Nebo ending by going close to the double-double with 15 points and 9 rebounds. “Once we settled in and got comfortable, we started to play our game. We were ready to pull it away”, he commented. The former Valencia center Jasel Rivero, who subbed him off the bench, contributed with 10 points and 6 rebounds, shooting perfectly from the field (4/4).
Valencia is at risk right now
Proving to be on a great roll recently, Semi Ojeleye had another good losing effort with 15 points, 5 rebounds, and 2 assists, drawing 5 fouls. Kassius Roberston scored 13 points, while Damien Inglis went close to a double-double with 12 points and 9 rebounds.
“We were out of the rhythm in the first twenty minutes. We tried to come back, they were way better than us in offensive rebounds. We suffered in this position”, Alex Mumbru said after the defeat.
Despite being without its main centers Brandon Davies and Boubacar Toure, while also not having Jared Harper on board, Valencia stayed in contention up until midway through the second quarter, when Maccabi Tel Aviv went on a 9-0 scoring run to go from 29-30 to 38-30; from that moment, the never lost control.
After this loss, Alex Mumbru’s team is once again outside of the Play-In zone, being 2-7 in the last nine games. Their next two encounters against ASVEL and on the road against Partizan are must-needed victories. Maccabi Tel Aviv, instead, stays in the race for the Playoffs at 19-13.
PHOTO CREDIT: Turkish Airlines EuroLeague
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