By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
Maccabi FOX Tel Aviv tried its best, despite missing for one more game Jeremy Pargo and CSKA Moscow suffered until the end. Still, the Russian powerhouse prevailed (89-86) and the hosts are still searching for their first win in the EuroLeague season.
Nando De Colo finished the game with 27 points, five assists, and four steals and four more players scored in double digits for the winners.
Thanks to an amazing first half by the French guard who scored 19 points on 8/10 FG in 17 minutes of action, CSKA Moscow got a 50-46 lead after 20 minutes of play. “I feel good, so tonight the team played pretty good and I got some good opportunities to score”, said De Colo after the game. “Like every time, I try to do my best.”
However, things changed in the third quarter. Maccabi managed to tie the game (57-57) and got a small lead 68-67 just before the end of the period with Michael Roll and Angelo Caloiaro making key plays. It did not last for long.
CSKA Moscow had an 11-3 run (78-71) during the first five minutes of the last quarter and kept their distance until the end. De Colo and Clyburn got to work in the offensive end and Cory Higgins with a three gave to CSKA a nine-point advantage (85-76).
With less than one minute left, Maccabi made it a four-point game (85-81) after a shot by DeAndre Kane. That’s the best they could do. Caloiaro was fouled and missed two free throws, while Clyburn, Semen Antonov, and Sergio Rodriguez made 4/6 free throws in the last 30 seconds, sealing the outcome of the game.
As coach Dimitris Itoudis explained: “It’s not only one thing, but definitely we changed our mentality in the fourth quarter, and some of the third, too. We were more decisive. We had much more clear ideas of what we had to do on offense, and of where and how we could risk defensively”.
Ultimately Roll cut the lead to three (89-86), a shot that may prove crucial on a possible tie-break. Caloiaro finished the game with 21 points, while Roll and Tarik Black had 15 each.