Maccabi Electra Tel Aviv secured an important 70-68 win over FC Barcelona, their 500th victory in Europe in 800 games, and raised their Top 16 record to 2-1. Pargo led Maccabi’s scorers with 20 points and 7 assists and was named MVP of the game.
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By Amy Samin
Maccabi Electra Tel Aviv secured an important 70-68 home win over FC Barcelona, their 500th victory in Europe in 800 games, and raised their Top 16 record to 2-1. Jeremy Pargo led Maccabi’s scorers with 20 points and 7 assists and was named MVP of the game. Devin Smith added 15 points, Sofo Schortsanitis contributed 11 points and 9 rebounds, and Brian Randle had 10 points and 7 rebounds.
Brian Randle, Yogev Ohayon, Sofo Schortsanitis, Devin Smith, and Jeremy Pargo started for Maccabi. The game got off to a slow start, with four of Maccabi’s first six points coming from the charity stripe and Barcelona stuck with only a deuce for the first three minutes. A nice dish from Smith to Randle put Maccabi up 8-4, but two straight buckets by the visitors tied the score at 8 halfway through the period. Pargo added points in the paint, and Nate Linhart found Ohayon open on the left wing for a triple, but the quarter ended with the score only 15-13 to Maccabi.
The second quarter got underway with a perfectly-timed alley oop from Pargo to Joe Alexander, who went on to add a catch and shoot off an assist by Smith that made it 19-13 after a minute and a half. Barcelona scored their first points in the period a minute later, but Pargo was in control, scoring and passing out assists like candy, finding Sofo in the paint (and 1) and Smith outside the arc, 29-22 Maccabi with three and a half minutes left in the half. Sofo and Randle scored in the paint, and a triple by Smith (assist MarQuez Haynes) briefly put Maccabi’s lead in double digits, but the Spaniards scored to make it 36-28 as the teams went into the break.
The opening of the second half was chaotic at both ends of the court, and Maccabi had trouble finding the basket until Pargo dropped a huge three that made it 43-34 after four minutes of action. The Spaniards staged a run that was stopped by two buckets from Pargo, but the visitors still managed to narrow the gap to two. Thanks to Pargo and Haynes, Maccabi got some breathing room, and a half-court buzzer beater by Linhart ended the period with the yellows leading 53-47.
Barcelona worked their way into the lead at the start of the fourth quarter, but another three pointer by Smith put Maccabi back on top, 58-56. Pargo and Smith scored again, and a steal by Sofo led to a fast break layup by Randle (and 1), 66-56 Maccabi halfway through the period. The Spaniards kept on coming, while Maccabi’s shots refused to drop, and with :21 left it was 68-66, Maccabi. Tyus came through with a crucial block, and free throws by Pargo put the finishing touches on Maccabi’s 500th Euroleague victory, and their first defeat of FC Barcelona in seven years, 70-68 at Menora Mivtachim Arena in Tel Aviv.
