By Eurohoops team/info@eurohoops.net
In a “do or die” match for Maccabi Tel-Aviv, Unicaja Malaga decimated the Israelis 82-68 at home and almost eliminated them from the next round. This was the sixth win for the hosts (6-1), whereas the visitors suffered their sixth defeat (1-6), making another disappointing performance.
For the winners, Will Thomas had 20 points and five rebounds, as three more players were in double digits. On the other hand, Jordan Farmar scored 13 points for the losing squad, with Devin Smith adding 11.
In the beginning, the match was close, as no team could take a significant advantage, however Malaga was executing perfectly offensively and was in front by six at the end of the first quarter (26-20). Later, the Spaniards enhanced their performance even more and extended the lead to 21 points (43-22), with a 17-2 run. Maccabi was unable to reverse the situation and Malaga closed the first half with a 17-point lead (48-31).
In the third quarter, things didn’t change much, with Unicaja comfortably retaining their advantage to double-digits (59-34, 63-49). In the last quarter, the Israelis tried to make a big come-back, cut the deficit to eight points (71-63), but the Spaniards hit some crucial shots, brought the lead back to double digits (82-68) and claimed an easy victory to retain their place on top of group D.