A first game for Maccabi in Vilnius. Maccabi is on 2-2 in Lithuania. Vujcic is back after illness. The injured Stelmahers will be absent for Lietuvos Rytas.
In the penultimate game in Euroleague`s Regular Season, Macaabi Elite Tel Aviv will play this evening (18:45, Siemens Arena, Vilnius) its most important game of the season so far. A win over Lietuvos Rytas will establish Maccabi’s top place in Group B before the final game vs Barcelona, next week at the NOKIA Arena. A defeat will relegate Maccabi to third place. The Lithuanians won 92-86 on December 8 in Tel Aviv, Macccabi’s only home setback this season. Lietuvos Rytas were then on a run of 7 consecutive wins, but they have now lost their last three games and dropped to fourth in the standings.. They have also lost point guard Roberts Stelmahers through injury and last week signed American Maurice Baker (1.85), who played 27 minutes and scored 4 pts in the 65-74 home defeat vs Efes Pilsen. Maccabi`s head coach Pini Gershon, will happily welcome forward Nikola Vujcic who missed last week 71-94 defeat in Milan due to illness. This will be Macccabi`s first visit to Vilnius after four EL games in Kaunas (2-2). In 13 games vs Lithuanian opposition, Maccabi has a 7-6 record.
