By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
For a second time in the EuroLeague season CSKA Moscow overcame both the absences of its stars, Nando De Colo and Milos Teodosic and a dangerous opponent on the road, claiming a victory that confirms is status as the best team in the continent.
This time, it was in Israel and against Maccabi Tel Aviv that the defending champs beat, taking a 80 – 76 win and keeping their almost perfect 12 – 1 record. Cory Higgins emerged as an leader on court, dropping 16 points, while Vitaly Fridzon added 13 plus 5 assists and Aaron Jackson 12 to expand their team’s winning streak.
Meanwhile, Maccabi keeps crumbling, facing its fourth defeat in a row and eighth overall in the competition. The irony is that in the beginning of the match, things looked to be significantly better for the Israelis since they got off to a spectacular 38 – 20 start in the first 14 minutes mainly thanks to a red hot Andrew Goudelock (19 points, 5 assists, 4 rebounds). Yet their large advantage would soon be blown into pieces…
CSKA began intensifying its defensive efforts, forcing its opponents to one turnover after the other and by simultaneously improving its offense cut its deficit at four, 46 – 42 at halftime. We had a game again..
Coach Itoudis’ players even got the lead, 52 – 56 near the end of the third quarter and the match got quite close, remaining as such until the very last minutes.
Goudelock put his team in front 74 – 72 with less than 3 minutes to go but then Sonny Weems made three consecutive turnovers, giving CSKA the opportunity to take a 76 – 74 lead with Higgins. The American guard also sank a mid range jumper for the 74 – 78 putting his team at a pole position with 45 seconds to go and then Kyle Hines kept his team ahead, 76 – 80. It was more than enough since Maccabi’s late three-point attempts were no good.