By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
Maccabi Tel Aviv found themselves trailing 67-74 in the beginning of the fourth quarter after giving up a 16-point lead to Darussafaka Dogus but managed to repel its opponents 93-92 in a thrilling game for the 16th Round of the EuroLeague regular season.
Sonny Weems had a power-performance of 24 points, 8 assists and 5 rebounds leading Maccabi to a precious victory that makes its record 6 – 10. Darussafaka Dogus fell to 8 – 8 despite making not one, but two comebacks during the game.
And that is because the Turkish team, was also down 93 – 84, almost 1 minute before the final buzzer. Blatt’s players had a big opportunity to send the game to overtime after Brad Wanamaker was fouled on three-point attempt with the score 93 – 90, but he wasn’t perfect from the line. Wanamaker had been big for his team throughout the whole game with 16 points and 8 assists along with Will Clyburn (17 points, 8 rebounds).
The star of Ante Zizic also sparked with 14 points and 9 rebounds in 23 minutes. What is more, his impact on both ends helped Darussafaka Dogus in an impressive comeback after being down 57 – 41 in the beginning of the third period.
With Zizic covering ground plus clearing the boards on defense and by spitting lava from the perimeter (7/10) in the third period, Darussafaka didn’t only erase its deficit, but gained a 61 – 56 advantage by the end of the quarter.
Maccabi recovered with D.J. Seeley (12 points) and Maik Zirbes (13 points) dropping precious buckets and then Quincy Miller scored his first points of the season after coming back from his injury, making it 90 – 81 with 2:34!
The guests managed to almost complete another comeback effort, yet couldn’t force the extra period after Wanamaker went 2/3 with the score 93 – 90.