Maccabi Electra Tel Aviv finished the Top 16 with an 81-76 loss to CSKA Moscow at home in Nokia Arena. Rice was outstanding with 15 points and 7 assists. Blu added 14 points, Landesberg scored 13 points and Sofo had 11 points.
By Amy Samin
Maccabi Electra Tel Aviv finished the Top 16 with an 81-76 loss at home to CSKA Moscow. TyreseRice led Maccabi’s scorers with 15 points and 7 assists, David Blu contributed 14 points, Sylven Landesberg scored 13 points and Sofo Schortsanitis added 11 points. Maccabi finished the Top 16 with an 8-6 record.
Starters for Maccabi were David Blu, Guy Pnini, Ricky Hickman, Sofo Schortsanitis and Yogev Ohayon. CSKA opened the game with a 5-0 run, but Sofo and Blu closed the gap to one. The Russians responded quickly with points in the paint, jumping to 15-9 halfway through the period.
Six points by Tyrese Rice and a bucket by Sylven Landesberg put Maccabi within six, 23-17 as the period ended.
Maccabi fought to close the gap further as the second period got underway, but the Russians jumped to 30-20 after a basket by ex-Maccabi player Jeremy Pargo, leading Blatt to call for a time out. Maccabi looked more focused after the break, going on an 8-0 run thanks to points by Rice, Blu (from downtown) and Ohayon that made it 20-28 after three minutes of action. The Russians kept their cool, and while they racked up a string of fouls they also managed to reopen their lead to 39-31 just past the five minute mark. Another time out by Blatt had the same result as the earlier one, and Maccabi stormed to a 45-42 lead following buckets by Landesberg, Rice, Alex Tyus with a dunk on an alley oop from Rice, and another trey from Blu as time ran out in the half.
Two great buckets and a dish to Landesberg in the corner by Sofo put Maccabi up 52-46 two and a half minutes into the third quarter. Points by Khryapa cut Maccabi’s lead to only three, but then both teams had trouble finding the basket for several minutes. Another alley oop to Tyus, this time from Joe Ingles, and free throws by Landesberg and Hickman wrapped up the period with Maccabi leading 63-59.
Maccabi’s excellent defense early in the fourth quarter led to two shot clock violations for the visitors, while Blu extended Maccabi’s lead with another bucket from outside the arc, 66-61. Turnovers by Maccabi allowed the Russians to tie the score, then take a two point lead. Rice tied things up again with a coast to coast layup, but back to back buckets by Jackson and Weems broke the game open for CSKA, 74-68 with 2:15 left in the game. Five points by Landesberg weren’t enough, and in the end CSKA Moscow defeated Maccabi Electra Tel Aviv 81-76 in the final game of the Euroleague Top 16.
