By Amy Samin

A clutch catch-and-shoot from David Blu with time running out gave Maccabi Electra Tel Aviv a key 78 – 76 victory over Khimki Moscow in Russia.
Doron Perkins showed his athleticism and talent as he helped bring Maccabi back from a seven point deficit; it was his dish that got the ball to Blu for the winning basket.
Chuck Eidson and Sofoklis Schortsanitis each scored 16 points, Guy Pnini added 11and Jeremy Pargo had 9 points and 6 assists.
The win put Maccabi in first place in Group A.

Maccabi opened with Perkins, Pargo, Eidson, Lior Eliyahu and Sofo, while the Russian team started with Keith Langford, Vitaly Fridzon, Kresimir Loncar, Zoran Planinic, and Benjamin Eze.
Pargo scored a dunk on the opening possession to get things started, and Maccabi soon extended that lead.
After two and a half minutes the score was 6 – 0, Maccabi.
Eze cut short Maccabi’s run, but excellent defense by Maccabi kept Khimki to a mere two points for much of the period.
Sofo picked up four points and an assist (to co-captain Tal Burstein in the paint), and with a minute and a half left in the quarter Maccabi’s lead had grown to 16 – 2.
Khimki scored eight quick points to get back into the game, but a three-pointer from Eidson at the buzzer set the score at 19 – 10.

The home team looked much better in the second quarter and the teams traded baskets for awhile.
Pnini scored twice from downtown to put Maccabi up 27 – 19 after four and a half minutes, but Khimki kept on coming and within two minutes had pulled within three, 29 – 26 off a three-pointer from Raul Lopez.
A rebound plus coast-to-coast run by Eliyahu ended in a layup that got Maccabi fired up.
Sofo scored an amazing off-balance bucket and one, while Eidson dumped in a basket off the glass on the inbounds pass to make it 36 – 29 with two minutes left in the half.
Maccabi stayed strong on defense while adding to their tally, and at halftime led by eleven, 42 – 31.

Maccabi got off to a good start in the third quarter, going to 46 – 31, but the players from Moscow had finally warmed up, and ended up scoring from outside the arc four times in the period.
At the halfway mark, Maccabi’s lead had shrunk to 50 – 41, and points from Richard Hendrix and Pnini weren’t enough to keep Khimki back; with two minutes left on the clock the score was 54 – 51.
Loncar dominated the final minutes of the period, at the end of which the home team had taken the lead for the first time in the game, 58 – 56.

The momentum stayed with Khimki for most of the final quarter; although Maccabi fought hard to stay close, after four minutes of play they were down by seven, 67 – 60.
A beauty by Blu at the top of the arc (assist Perk) closed the gap a bit, and Sofo’s spin-and-shoot in the paint put Maccabi within two, 67 – 65.
Sofo continued to battle one on two under the basket and added four quick points to make it a one point game, 70 – 69.
A three from Eidson in the right corner tied the game at 72 with less than three minutes remaining, but Khimki quickly retook the lead.
With seconds remaining, the home team was up by one, 76 – 75 when Perk, off balance and falling out of bounds, dished to Blu – who miraculously was all alone near the top of the arc.
Blu’s patented catch-and-shoot for three saved the day, giving Maccabi Electra Tel Aviv a 78 – 76 win over Khimki Moscow in Week 4 of the Euroleague season and putting them in first place in Group A.

Box Scores
Maccabi: Schortsanitis 16 points, 5 rebounds; Eidson 16 points; Pnini 11 points; Pargo 9 points, 6 assists; Eliyahu 8 points; Hendrix and Blu 6 points each; Perkins 4 points, 6 rebounds, 3 assists; Burstein 2 points.

Khimki: Loncar 15 points, 8 rebounds; Lopez and Monya 11 points each; Eze and Fridzon 10 points each; Langford 9 points; Planinic 5 points, 7 rebounds, 6 assists; Dmitriev 5 points.

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