In their first game of the Euroleague Top 16, Maccabi Electra Tel Aviv was defeated by Panathinaikos Athens 83-76. Randle and Linhart were Maccabi’s high scorers with 18 points each.
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By Amy Samin
After leading for most of their first game of the Euroleague Top 16, Maccabi Electra Tel Aviv was defeated by Panathinaikos Athens 83-76 in the Greek capital. Brian Randle and Nate Linhart were Maccabi’s high scorers with 18 points each. Alex Tyus added 14 points and 11 rebounds.
Jeremy Pargo, Brian Randle, Nate Linhart, Alex Tyus and Yogev Ohayon were the starters for Maccabi. The yellows got off to a great start, thanks mainly to points by Tyus and Linhart, who combined to put Maccabi up 8-6 after four minutes. Four straight points by Randle, and a triple by Linhart on the right wing, increased Maccabi’s lead to 15-8 with three minutes left in the period. Pargo sent an alley-oop,to MarQuez Haynes for the slam, then added points of his own to end the period with the visitors leading 19-15.
Tyus looked great on both ends of the court as the second quarter got underway, with a putback slam and points off a bullet of a pass from Haynes lighting up the scoreboard, and a block on defense keeping the Greeks in check. Points by Randle and a trey by Haynes on the right wing gave Maccabi a ten point lead, 28-18 after two and a half minutes. Another block by Tyus ended with a dunk by the big man at the other end that put the yellows up 32-18, but the Greeks finally went to work, and – despite points by Haynes, Linhart, Pargo, and Randle – managed to close to 43-39 as the half ended.
It took the hosts less than a minute to tie the score, but once again Linhart stepped up, scoring back to back triples that made it 49-43 after two minutes. Two quick buckets by Ohayon and two from Tyus gave Maccabi some breathing room, 58-51 halfway through the third quarter. Randle upped Maccabi’s lead to ten with a minute and a half left, but the Greeks trimmed it to 64-60 as the period ended.
Despite points by Randle and Landesberg, Panathinaikos fought their way to a 70-68 lead halfway through the fourth quarter. The efforts of Pargo, Linhart and Ohayon were not enough as the hosts continued to extend their lead, and the game ended with Maccabi Electra Tel Aviv falling to Panathinaikos 83-76 in the first game of the Top 16.
