Maccabi Electra Tel Aviv suffered a tough loss at home against Alba Berlin, 66-59 and dropped to 5-2 in the Euroleague Top 16. Smith led Maccabi’s scorers with 17 points and 9 rebounds.
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By Amy Samin
Maccabi Electra Tel Aviv suffered a tough loss at home against Alba Berlin, 66-59 and dropped to 5-2 in the Euroleague Top 16. Devin Smith led Maccabi’s scorers with 17 points and 9 rebounds. Nate Linhart added 15 points and Sofo Schortsanitis contributed 12 points.
Starters for Maccabi were Jeremy Pargo, Devin Smith, Brian Randle, Yogev Ohayon, and Sofo Schortsanitis. The first quarter was close, a defensive battle that had Maccabi leading 10-9 after a smooth alley oop from Pargo to Randle for the slam five minutes into the period. A deuce from Randle on the baseline and a classic Smith trey kept Maccabi in the lead, but Alba didn’t give up, and it was a drive to the basket by Nate Linhart that put Maccabi up 16-15 as the period ended.
More points in the paint and a three from the right corner by Linhart extended Maccabi’s lead to 21-15 two minutes into the second quarter, while Maccabi’s strong defense kept the visitors from scoring until more than another minute had gone by. A dish (to Linhart), free throw and bucket by Sofo made it 28-23 Maccabi, but the Germans got back into the game, tying the score at 30 with just over two minutes left in the half. Alba took the lead shortly after, but Pargo from downtown made it 36-35 Maccabi as the teams went into the halftime break.
The third quarter was another battle on defense, with less happening on the offensive end. Alba grabbed the lead early by scoring 7 straight, until their run was stopped by Smith with a layup near the halfway mark. Sofo (in the paint) and Linhart (from downtown) scored for Maccabi but the period ended with the visitors still in the lead, 50-44.
Four straight points by Smith narrowed Maccabi’s deficit to 53-50 three minutes into the final quarter, and a huge three by Pargo tied the score shortly after. But Maccabi couldn’t put together a string of buckets to retake the lead, while Alba continued to score. In the end, Maccabi Electra Tel Aviv fell to Alba Berlin 66-59.
