Behind a thousand roaring Yellow & Blue fans in the crowd, Maccabi heads back to Israel with a W, ramping up their record to 12:6. Bryant stood out with a career-high 19 point & 8 rebounds, Reynolds added 17 points and 7 rebounds
After losing the past two EuroLeague games, Maccabi Fox Tel Aviv get back on track with the start of the second round in the EuroLeague, beating ALBA Berlin on the road, 95:89. Elijah Bryant drained a career-high 5 3’s scoring 19 points while adding 8 rebounds as Jalen Reynolds excelled with 17 points and 7 rebounds for Giannis Sfairopoulos’s 100th career EuroLeague win.
Maccabi opened the contest with Scottie Wilbekin, Yovel Zoosman, Elijah Bryant, Quincy Acy, and Othello Hunter. The defenses in the first quarter weren’t existent as Maccabi’s offense clicked from the get-go. Bryant had the hot hand early, scoring 8 of the visitor’s first 12 points to tie it up at 12:12. Deni Avdija came off the bench and scored 8 straight points to give the Yellow & Blue a minimal 31:28 lead after the first ten minutes.
The Yellow & Blue started the second quarter hot going on a 10:0 run behind Reynolds and Tyler Dorsey, who each scored twice that gave the visitors a double-digit advantage, 41:29. However, the home squad responded with 10 unanswered points to cut the lead down to 2. Bryant’s fourth three-pointer of the first half and a total of 14 points secured his team would go down at the half with a lead, giving Maccabi a 50:45 edge at the break.
Bryant picked up where he left off with another shot from deep to start the second half, as the Yellow & Blue were able to increase the lead to 15 with two straight Jake Cohen’s threes after assists by Jalen Reynolds. In the final minutes of the third, ALBA was able to reduce the lead scoring 9 consecutive points, but Tyler Dorsey drained his first shot from deep to stop the run that granted the visitors an 8 point lead going into the final quarter, 72:64.
Dorsey found Cohen, who restored the double-digit advantage with a slam. Marcus Erickson was able to reduce the lead down to 6, however, Wilbekin hit a three midway through the quarter to ramp up the advantage, 79:70. The hosts kept answering, with 24 seconds left, Hermannsson closed a 9:0 run with a triple that made it 90:86. Sfairopoulos’s players stood under pressure, Acy and Hunter were accurate from the free-throw line to close the deal, as Maccabi beats ALBA Berlin 95:89.
