Maccabi Electra Tel Aviv secured the top spot in Group D following a thrilling 75-73 victory over Lokomotiv Kuban. Sofo was game MVP with 15 points, Blu added 13 points, and Pnini and Ingles contributed 9 points each.
By Amy Samin
In Week 8 of the Euroleague regular season Maccabi Electra Tel Aviv secured the top spot in Group D following a thrilling 75-73 victory over Lokomotiv Kuban. Sofo Schortsanitis was named game MVP with 15 points, while David Blu added 13 points. Joe Ingles (7 rebounds, 6 assists) and Guy Pnini contributed 9 points each.
Blatt’s starters were Guy Pnini, Joe Ingles, Sofo Schortsanitis, Devin Smith, and Yogev Ohayon. The visitors opened strong, grabbing an 8-2 lead in the first two minutes of the game. Points by Smith and Ohayon helped Maccabi close the gap, 11-10. A classic catch and shoot from the top of the arc by David Blu gave Maccabi their first lead of the game, 16-13 with just over a minute left in the period. Kuban scored to keep it close, and the quarter ended with Maccabi leading by only one, 18-17.
The second quarter got underway with points that put Kuban on top, but Maccabi stayed close and stepped up their defense. A steal by Tyrese Rice went to Ingles and back to Rice for the fastbreak layup that made it 24-23 Maccabi after four minutes of action. The visitors grabbed back the lead, but triples by Rice, Pnini and Ingles made it 34-30 Maccabi. Ricky Hickman also joined in the fun from downtown, but Kuban didn’t give up and the half ended with the visitors leading by one, 40-39.
Sofo started the scoring in the second half with a mini hook shot that was followed more than two minutes later by points from outside the arc by Ingles, 44-40 Maccabi. Maccabi continued to score, including points from Tyus off an alley oop and 1, and a trey by Blu put Maccabi’s lead in double digits, 56-46 with just over three minutes left in the period. Kuban continued to fight, but three pointers by Pnini and Ingles (assist Pnini) in opposite corners ended the period with Maccabi leading 63-53.
Maccabi held onto their lead in the early minutes of the fourth quarter, but the visitors started chipping away at it until halfway through the period the score was tied at 67. Kuban took the lead and grew it to six, 73-67 with three minutes on the clock, but Blu and Pnini both came through with threes, tying the score at 73 with less than two minutes left. Sofo scored the go-ahead bucket right before he fouled out, and Kuban was unable to respond as Maccabi Electra Tel Aviv defeated Lokomotiv Kuban 75-73 to claim first place in the Euroleague’s Group D.
