Maccabi Electra Tel Aviv was close to the Croatian team throughout the game, but the hosts pulled out an 81 – 79 win in the closing minutes of the game. D’or Fischer was a standout with 26 points.
By Amy Samin
Maccabi’s starting lineup included Carlos Arroyo, Lior Eliyahu, Tal Burstein, Jason Williams, and D’or Fischer.
Cibona opened with Davor Kus, Nikola Prkacin, Vedran Vukusic, Earl Calloway, and Marin Rozic.
Fischer got off to a fantastic start offensively in the early minutes of the first quarter, taking Maccabi to an 8 – 6 lead three minutes into the game.
A sluggish Maccabi defense allowed the host team to take a 12 – 8 lead off of two three-pointers from Rozic and Kus.
The Croatian guard downed another shot from outside the arc, but a reinvigorated Maccabi defense, along with baskets scored by Fischer and Burstein, stopped the hosts from breaking the game open, and closed the lead to 15 – 14 with three minutes left in the quarter.
Head coach Efy Birenboim put new life into the team by subbing in Marcus Brown and Esteban Batista, and Maccabi was able to tie the score until a corner shot by Rawle Marshall gave Cibona a 20 – 17 lead at the end of the quarter.
Maccabi couldn’t seem to find the key to stopping Cibona’s inside game, and some awkwardness on offense plagued the team in the early part of the second quarter.
With five quick fouls added to the mix, Maccabi found themselves at the tail end of a 26 – 19 score three minutes into the quarter.
Three turnovers by Arroyo, and a string of missed opportunities on defensive rebounds further hampered Maccabi’s game.
A basket by Yaniv Green and a three-pointer plus foul shot by Arroyo scored in the last seconds of the possession enabled Maccabi to close the gap, 31 – 29 with three and a half minutes left in the half.
Maccabi woke up defensively, as well, stopping the Croatians and an assist by Brown to Eliyahu gave Maccabi back the lead, 32 – 31 with two minutes to go in the half.
Smart playing by Green and Eliyahu kept Maccabi close to Cibona, but Brown missed a three-pointer in the closing seconds of the quarter, and the half ended with the score tied at 36.
Fischer remained hot at the start of the second half (14 points at halftime) and helped Maccabi maintain a small lead over the host team, 40 – 39 after three minutes of play in the third quarter.
The lead changed hands repeatedly until the sloppiness that had beset Maccabi on defense earlier in the game began to spill over into their offense, enabled Cibona to take a 45 – 42 lead after five minutes of play in the third quarter.
Maccabi committed a series of turnovers and missed opportunities, causing Birenboim to call a time out with the score at 54 – 45 to the Croatians and two minutes left in the quarter.
For Maccabi, getting the ball to drop into the basket was like pulling teeth, and defensively the team just didn’t have it together.
Only a three-pointer by Williams in the final seconds of the quarter kept Maccabi in the game; and the quarter ended with the score 58 – 52, with Cibona in the lead.
Although Arroyo was clearly having an off-night, he tried valiantly to bring Maccabi back into the game in the opening minutes of the fourth quarter.
It was Fischer and Eliyahu who succeeded in keeping Maccabi in contention, pouncing on every offensive rebound, bringing the score to 64 – 59 three and a half minutes into the quarter.
Brown, who was uncharacteristically cold from the field for much of the game, was able to score, bringing Maccabi to within three points of the hosts’, 66 – 63, with four and a half minutes left in the game.
But Maccabi was unable to keep up the momentum, allowing Kus and Marshall to score, bringing the score to 71 – 63.
Arroyo returned to the court in the final minutes of the game and scored from downtown, but Kus answered, keeping the Croatian’s lead steady and setting the score at 76 – 68 with one minute left in the game.
Maccabi was left with the option of fouling their opponents, with the hope of missed free throws and the chance to score.
This brought mixed results, and a last-second shot by Burstein from outside the arc only succeeded in narrowing the gap.
The game ended in a Cibona victory, 81 – 79.
Maccabi: Fischer 26 points, Eliyahu 14 points, Arroyo 10 points, Green 8 points, Burstein 7 points, Brown 5 points, Williams 4 points, Batista 3 points, Omri Casspi 2 points.
Cibona: Kus 23 points, Marshall 20, Prkacin 14 points, Andric and Rozic 8 points each, Princ and Calloway 3 points each, Homan 2 points.
“It was a close game, and we played well,” said Lior Eliyahu, who scored 14. “Until Davor Kus’ three-pointer near the end we played well, but that took the wind out of our sails.
We pulled down a lot of rebounds in the game, and we’ll take away a lot of good things from this evening.”
“This is a tough court to play on,” added the forward.
“It’s just one game and you can’t draw too many conclusions from it.
There was a lot of pressure on us because this was our first game in Europe.
It’s important for us to beat Galil (Gilboa/Galil) on Sunday, and Thursday’s game against Avellino is a must-win for us.”
Tal Burstein: “We wanted to start off with a win and not a loss, but there’s nothing to be done about it now.
Every game will be more important now.
We have a lot of work to do.
We need to win the upcoming games.
It’s hard to put your finger on just what went wrong; the missed shots were the result of a few minutes’ lack of concentration, when the score was tied.
That just kind of got away from us.
Turnovers, missed shots…small things.”
Marcus Brown:
“There was a tough rhythm to the game, but we fought hard and didn’t give up.
We had some missed shots, some turnovers, little things like that.
It was a tough game.
We need to keep working; I need to learn the system and where I fit in.
We need to work on defense.”
Yaniv Green: “It was a good game for a few players at certain times.
We played fantastic defense at certain points and fought hard.
A few turnovers on our part, and calls by the referees, decided the direction of the game.
We have a good basis to build on.
The players put up a good fight and made the effort; a couple of mistakes are what made the difference.”
