Maccabi Tel Aviv suffers a tough 92-71 loss to Barcelona in Euroleague action, dropping to 1-3 • Marcio Santos leads with 18 points as the team struggles to find rhythm ahead of Thursday’s game. Maccabi Tel Aviv was overwhelmed 92-71 by Barcelona late Tuesday night as its Euroleague record dropped to 1-3 in the first game of a double week, with Olympiacos up next on Thursday in Belgrade.
Maccabi Tel Aviv suffers a tough 92-71 loss to Barcelona in Euroleague action, dropping to 1-3 • Marcio Santos leads with 18 points as the team struggles to find rhythm ahead of Thursday’s game.
Maccabi Tel Aviv was overwhelmed 92-71 by Barcelona late Tuesday night as its Euroleague record dropped to 1-3 in the first game of a double week, with Olympiacos up next on Thursday in Belgrade.
In a game that was never close from the outset, the yellow-and-blue fell behind 31-18 after the opening frame and never could find rhythm as it trailed by more than 30 points multiple times throughout the matchup.
Marcio Santos scored 18 points to lead Maccabi, Tamir Blatt added 15 points, and Roman Sorkin scored 10 points in the loss. Willy Hernangomez scored 19 points for Barca as Myles Cale and Kevin Punter dropped 12 points apiece in a game that saw every one of the Spanish side’s 12 players score at least a field goal.
“This is not the first time this season Barca played with such a terrific offense,” Maccabi Tel Aviv coach Oded Katash began. “But what was surprising was their defense. They really played exceptionally well in the first half and they have a lot of talent and it was so tough to find a solution.
It was a shock how the game started, and we lost our way, which is something that happens to new teams. We will have to learn as a team how to get out of such situations.
Santos also spoke about the game.
“We need to go out there in the first minutes and set the tone, and we allowed them to do that. We only did so in the third quarter, so we need to bring the energy and set the tone.”
Hernangomez also shared his thoughts from Barca’s perspective.
“It is never easy to win in the Euroleague. I think we executed really well at both ends of the floor and played a complete basketball game for 40 minutes.”
Hapoel Holon lose to jeventut Badalona
Meanwhile, Hapoel Holon fell to Joventut Badalona 81-65 to even its Basketball Champions League record at 1-1.
Adam Hanga and Ricky Rubio found points early on for Joventut to grab a 40-33 lead at halftime.
Derrick Walton and Todd Withers tried to keep Holon close, but Henri Drell and Ludde Hakanson scored down the stretch to help the visitors take the win.
Drell and Rubio each scored 14 points while Hanga added 11 points in the win. Walton led the Israeli side with 14 points, and Withers put in 13 points in the loss.
“We started the game not bad but we were always missing something, a step or an inch basketball wise,” Holon coach Danny Franco said. “We need time to get better; Joventut has a lot of experience and their players played the game better than us…We have to get back to the court and ready for our game on Saturday against Hapoel Jerusalem.”
Also in BCL action, Bnei Herzliya came up short to Tenerife 108-85 in a game that was played behind closed doors due to the current security situation.
The Spanish hosts came out firing on all cylinders and grabbed a 29-15 lead after the first quarter and then cruised the rest of the way to chalk up the win.
Elijah Stewart led Herzliya with 19 points while Jaime Fernandez paced Tenerife with 25 points.
Herzliya coach Yehu Orland reflected on the game.
“It was our second game in the Champions League and we are 0-2. For sure, it’s not easy to lose the first two games, but we played away against Tofas Bursa and this terrific team and coach.
We’re going to work, and it’s going to take a few days, but we’re going to be ready for our next game at home against Trapani.”
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Category: General Sports
