"When you have the fans' support, it makes things easier"

Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv potential erupted Tuesday night in the 99:94 overtime win over the EuroLeague's standings leaders Barcelona. In a tight, hard-fought battle, the 3000 Yellow & Blue fans fired up Giannis Sfairopoulos's squad that for 45 minutes played the sixth man's role pushing the Israeli champions for their fifth straight home victory over the Catalonian side and the second one this season.

7 Maccabi players finished the night with double-digit scoring as the big men dominated in the paint. Ante Zizic was in total command scoring a career-high 24 points, including 12 in the third quarter, adding to that 8 rebounds in 31 minutes. The Croatian big man got help from his countryman Dragan Bender who had an excellent performance scoring 16 points, grabbing 6 rebounds, blocking 4 attempts, and dishing 3 steals. 



Angelo Caloiaro contributed 12 points, Omri Casspi 11, while Tyler Dorsey, Elijah Bryant, and Scottie Wilbekin had 10 point displays. Chris Jones distributed the ball beautifully, dishing 8 assists while adding 6 rebounds. Maccabi does not have much time to rest because on Thursday, they face Crvena Zvezda in Belgrade.

"We played one of the best teams in the Euroleague, and we had another good game against them by disorganizing their game and keeping them on a low score", Said head coach Giannis Sfairopoulos after sweeping the EuroLeague's standing leaders. "We controlled the game in the first quarter, they were able to come back, but in the second half, we were the better team. Psychologically we were down as we had a chance to win, but we showed our character and fought hard". 

"We played great on the defensive end and smart on offense. We deserved to win as we had 7 players in double figures. I want to dedicate the win to the fans, we saw tonight how important is the support of our fans here and on the road".

About Zizic's performance: "Ante fought really hard on defense, and when we played well and had the rhythm defensively, it helped us execute better offensively". 



The MVP of the contest, Ante Zizic, spoke about the teams feelings being misjudging because of their seasonal record: "This year, we lost games by one, two, three points, and we should be higher in the standings, but now we want to show that we can beat everybody as well". 

"Recently, I have been playing well. It wasn't just me tonight, it was an entire team effort. Tonight was my night, and next time someone else will step up. I played in Europe, and Maccabi fans are the best, they are our 6th man. When you have the fans support, it makes things easier".

Angelo Caloiaro told in the post-game conference what the difference was tonight: "Everyone can play at a high level, and when we have guards as good as we have, it opens up for the big guys that took advantage of that tonight. We had the fans tonight, and we've been losing these exact games that we won tonight when they weren't here".

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