In their final home game of the Top 16, Maccabi Electra Tel Aviv defeated Galatasaray of Turkey 81-72. Smith led all scorers with 22 points and 8 rebounds, earning MVP honors.
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By Amy Samin
In their final home game of the Top 16, Maccabi Electra Tel Aviv defeated Galatasaray of Turkey 81-72. Devin Smith led all scorers with 22 points and 8 rebounds, earning MVP honors. Brian Randle also had an excellent game, scoring 19 points. Not far behind was Alex Tyus with 17 points and 8 rebounds.
Maccabi’s starters were Devin Smith, Brian Randle, MarQuez Haynes, Jeremy Pargo, and Sofo Schortsanitis. Randle came flying in out of nowhere for a putback dunk to start the game, then scored two more dunks to put Maccabi up 6-2 after two and a half minutes. The visitors made it a one point game, but points by Smith and Pargo ran Maccabi up to 17-9, and a dunk by Alex Tyus put the lead at ten with less than three minutes left in the period. Galatasaray didn’t give up, and scored a string of buckets that tied the score 23-23 as the first quarter came to an end.
Maccabi got off to a slow start in the second period, giving the visitors a chance to claim the lead. Nate Linhart came in and dazzled on both ends of the court, including saves, rebounds, a three pointer, and an assist to Tyus that put Maccabi back on top 30-29. A Pargo – Randle oop, points from the foul line by Smith, a 360 in the paint by Randle and a slam by Linhart off a long bomb from Pargo made it 40-35 with a minute left in the half, but once again the Turks battled their way back into the game, including a buzzer beater by Gonlum that cut Maccabi’s lead to one, 43-42 going into the break.
The start of the second half was characterized mostly by missed baskets at both ends of the court, with Maccabi holding a 47-46 lead off a steal plus dunk by Smith close to the halfway mark in the period. The lead changed hands over the next few minutes, until three straight buckets by Smith opened up Maccabi’s lead. The quarter ended with the home team leading 58-53.
Yet again Galatasaray bounced back to reclaim the lead, but Pargo on the right wing and Smith off the glass made it 63-58 Maccabi after two and a half minutes. From there Maccabi continued to dominate, as Linhart added a trey from the corner and Smith and Sofo scored in the paint. A tip in by Tyus and a slam by Randle (assist Pargo) put the home team’s lead at ten, 76-66 with three and a half minutes left in the game. Maccabi’s last five points of the game belonged to Tyus, and Maccabi Electra Tel Aviv defeated Galatasaray 81-72.
