In a closely fought game that came down to the final seconds, Maccabi Electra Tel Aviv lost to Read Madrid at Nokia Arena, 77-76. Smith led Maccabi’s scorers with 23 points, Tyus added 18 points and 11 rebounds.
By Amy Samin
So close! For a full forty minutes Maccabi Electra Tel Aviv battled Real Madrid at Nokia Arena, but fell in the final seconds, 77-76. Devin Smith scored 23 points, Alex Tyus added 18 points and 11 rebounds, and Ricky Hickman contributed 17 points. Maccabi’s record in the Top 16 drops to 7-5, but they are still holding on to third place in Group F.
Starters for Maccabi were Guy Pnini, Devin Smith, Ricky Hickman, Yogev Ohayon and Sofo Schortsanitis. The opening minutes of the game were close, with Maccabi taking a 6-4 lead after three and a half minutes on a dunk by Alex Tyus (assist Hickman). By the halfway mark the Spaniards had taken the lead, though excellent defense by Maccabi kept things close with shot clock violations and broken plays disrupting Real Madrid’s rhythm. A steal and A long pass by Tyrese Rice to Hickman made it 18-15 with seconds left, but the Spaniards managed one last basket before time ran out, 20-15.
Real Madrid managed to extend their lead to eight early in the second quarter, though points by Sofo and Smith soon closed that to three, 25-22. The score stayed close in the next minutes, until a pair of alley oop passes by Smith and Pnini to Tyus under the basket tied the score at 29. A pair of layups by Hickman and a coast to coast by Smith made it 35-33 Maccabi with four and a half minutes left in the half. The visitors, led by Rodriguez, managed to tie the score, but a trey from the top of the arc at the buzzer by Pnini sent the teams into the break with Maccabi leading 43-40.
Points by Llull and Bourousis put the lead back in Real Madrid’s hands two minutes into the third quarter, 45-43. Smith tied things up from the foul line, but neither team was able to find the basket after that, until David Blu drained a three to make it 49-48 with just under four minutes left in the period. The Spaniards went on a scoring run that put their lead at 57-48 with two minutes to go, but Smith scored two straight buckets from downtown, then added a Hail Mary shot from three quarters court at the buzzer to cut Maccabi’s deficit to 62-57.
Maccabi scored five straight points at the start of the fourth quarter to pull within one, 63-62, then managed to take a one point lead, but the Spaniards didn’t give up and quickly retook the advantage. The score continued to go from a tie to a two point lead for one or the other of the teams until a three pointer by Fernandez made it 75-72 with just over a minute left. With two seconds left Tyus scored and was fouled; the free throw would have sent the game into overtime but the center missed and Real Madrid defeated Maccabi Electra Tel Aviv 77-76.
