Maccabi Electra Tel Aviv claimed their first victory (in five meetings) over Lietuvos Rytas Vilnius, 76-74 in what started as a blowout and ended as a nailbiter. Smith led Maccabi’s scorers with 18 points, Hickman contributed 11.
By Amy Samin
Thanks to the game-winning bucket by Tyrese Rice with 3.5 seconds on the clock, Maccabi Electra Tel Aviv claimed their first-ever victory (in five meetings) over Lietuvos Rytas Vilnius, 76-74, upgrading their Euroleague record to 3-1 with the key win on the road. Devin Smith led Maccabi’s scorers with 18 points, Ricky Hickman contributed 11 points, and Shawn James and Sofo Schortsanitis each added 10 points.
Starters for Maccabi were team captain Shawn James, Devin Smith, Ricky Hickman, Tyrese Rice and Joe Ingles. Maccabi started to the game in fine form, with points by Smith and Hickman (two straight threes) giving them an 8-2 lead after three and a half minutes. Ingles and Smith added more points from downtown, and James scored in the paint to make it 18-7 with just over three minutes left in the period. The hosts woke up and got back into the game, pulling within four until two straight buckets by Sofo Schortsanitis (assists by Yogev Ohayon and David Blu) ended the period with Maccabi up 26-18.
The start of the second quarter saw the home team cut the deficit yet again, until a putback by Smith and a trey by Ohayon (assist Blu) made it 31-23 close to the halfway mark. James served up a dime to Blu outside the arc, and Sofo added five straight points to put Maccabi up 38-25 with just under four minutes left in the half. Rytas battled to stay in the game, but couldn’t pull any closer than ten. The teams went into the halftime break with Maccabi leading 45-33.
The start of the third quarter belonged to James, who scored five straight points and dished to Smith for two more, 52-35 Maccabi after three and a half minutes. Ingles delivered a bullet of an assist to Ohayon under the basket, but then Maccabi began to struggle to add points to the scoreboard, managing only three free throws in the next four minutes, while Rytas put Maccabi’s lead below double digits, 57-48. Hickman scored a layup but the hosts dominated the final minutes of the period, which ended with Maccabi up by only four, 59-55.
The fourth quarter got underway with a bucket and 1 by James and a triple from Smith at the top of the arc, 65-58. But Rytas didn’t give the visitors a chance to regrow their lead, though Smith added points in the paint (assist Sofo) and from downtown, 70-64 after four minutes. The hosts went on a 7-0 scoring run and claimed their first lead of the game, 71-70 with 1:55 on the clock. Hickman scored two from the charity stripe, as did Tyrese Rice, and with nineteen seconds remaining Maccabi led 74-71. A three pointer for Rytas tied the score at 74 with :12 on the clock, but Rice stepped up with a floater in the paint (assist James) that gave Maccabi Electra Tel Aviv the win, 76-74 over Lietuvos Rytas Vilnius.
BOXSCORE
Maccabi: Smith 18 points, 5 rebounds; Hickman 11 points; Sofo 10 points, 7 rebounds; James 10 points; Ingles 8 points, 6 assists; Ohayon 8 points; Rice 6 points; Blu 5 points.
