The impressive 12 game winning streak comes to an end in Italy. Scottie Wilbekin finished as the top scorer with 25 points and 5 assists. On Friday: The Yellow & Blue face Barcelona in Spain
After a 12 game winning streak in all competitions, Maccabi Fox Tel Aviv took the loss Tuesday, 88:92 to Armani Milano, as their record falls to 6:3. The Yellow & Blue fell into a double-digit deficit at the start of the fourth quarter, never gave up, but their comeback attempt was too late. Scottie Wilbekin led the Israeli champions with 25 points, Tarik Black had a good game almost ending his night with a double-double (13 points and 9 rebounds). On Friday (22:00, live on channel Sport5), Maccabi heads out to another rough road game, this time against Barcelona.
The Yellow & Blue opened the contest with Nate Wolters, Scottie Wilbekin, Elijah Bryant, Jake Cohen, and Tarik Black in their starting five. Maccabi found it difficult early, not scoring a shot from beyond the three-point line the whole first quarter. On the other end, Kaleb Tarczewski and Luis Scola gave Sfairopoulos’s squad a lot of trouble under the baskets (5/8 rebounds), luckily Hunter scored a pair of point late, to provide his team a 21:21 tie, after ten minutes.
With the start of the second quarter, it seemed like the visitors found a rhythm, as they went on a 9:2 run to build its biggest advantage so far. However, the dynamic duo of Rodriguez and Scola carried the Italians back into the game to give the hosts the lead. Wolters tried to minimize the damage with an excellent offensive display that made him Maccabi’s top scorer in the first half, but the visitors didn’t find answers to stop Scola and Rodriguez (9 points & 7 assists) who helped Milano take a 47:42 lead, going into the half.
The hosts got off to a fantastic start in the second half, as Vladimir Micov joined the duo to give Milano a double-digit advantage. Scottie Wilbekin rained three’s from all over the court to lead the visitors to an 11:2 run that reduced the home team’s margin. Still, the Italians set the tone going into the final quarter, scoring eight unanswered points, on its way to a 71:64 lead.
Milano kept on the momentum from the third quarter as they gave Maccabi a hard time, ramping up their run to 13:0. However, the Yellow & Blue would not lie down, Wilbekin continued his tear, hitting his 5th three-pointer of the night to cut down the deficit. On the other end, Scola struck again to increase the host’s lead as the time went against the visitors. Eventually, Maccabi ends their winning streak in Italy, 88:92.
