By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
Thanks to a 9-0 run in the third quarter, Maccabi FOX Tel Aviv got into a safe distance and cruised until the final 76-63 over Valencia Basket. The Spanish club tried to stay close and did it until the start of the second half, but there was no coming back after that.
With Omri Casspi leading the way and scoring 12 points, Maccabi‘s defense working in perfection and the guests having made just three triples in 19 attempts until the start of the last period, things were quite simple for coach Giannis Sfairopoulos and his players.
Scottie Wilbekin with 14 points was the top scorer of the winners, Othello Hunter added 13, while point guard Nate Walters missed the double-double for one assist (10 p. 9 as.).
Maccabi started the game with an 18-11 first-quarter lead and enter the locker rooms at halftime with a five-point advantage (33-28). However, a 9-0 run which evolved to a 12-2 partial score gave to Maccabi a 51-35 lead at 27′ which practically decided the outcome.
“I’m very happy with how we played defense”, said coach Sfairopoulos after the game. “We gave everything to stop the opponents. We protected the paint. They scored 63 points and this is a big success for us because we are improving our defense and this is most important.”
“A pretty good job”
Omri Casspi was also happy about the game and of course, about the way Maccabi stopped their opponents: “Defense was a point of emphasis for us. They are a very talented team They played a really good game against Barcelona; it was 97-94 and we knew that can’t let them score in bunches. The key is just being aggressive. I think we controlled the ball really well. They hurt us a little bit with San Emetrio in the post, but other than that we did a pretty good job. The 63 points were one of our goals.”
Valencia tried to mount a comeback, they trailed by 12 points at the start of the last quarter (56-44) and despite a 68-49 lead by Maccabi, they didn’t give up. Still, the best they could do was to cut the lead to 11 (72-61). Jordan Loyd scored 17 points, Fernando San Emetario and Bojan Dubljevic had 15 each but it was far from enough.
Valencia remains the only EuroLeague team without a win after the first four rounds, while Maccabi has a solid 2-2 record.
Photo credit: EuroLeague