The Yellow & Blue dominated Obradovic’s squad in the first half allowing only 21 points, winning their third straight EuroLeague game. Casspi (MVP) and Black (10 points & 15 rebounds) led Maccabi in the triumph
Scored for Maccabi: Omri Casspi 13 points (4-6 FG, 6 rebounds, 4 assists), Nate Wolters (4-9 FG, 5 assists, 2 steals) & Othello Hunter (5-7 FG, 5 rebounds) 11 points each, Tarik Black 10 points (15 rebounds – 7 offensive), Scottie Wilbekin 9 points (2-3 3P, 2 steals), Yovel Zoosman 5 points, John DiBartolomeo & Tyler Dorsey 3 points each, Elijah Bryant 2 points (2 assists, 2 steals), Quincy Acy & Deni Avdija played but didn’t score.
Fenerbahce top scorers: Nando De Colo 13 points, Ali Muhammad & Derrick Williams 11 points each.
Scottie Wilbekin, Nate Wolters, Elijah Bryant, Omri Casspi, and Tarik Black opened in Giannis Sfairopoulos’s starting five.
Maccabi came out strong defensively, not allowing a point in the first four minutes of the game, Wilbekin with a big shot from three, gave the hosts a 5:0 lead. Jan Vesely came off the bench to score Fenerbahce’s first points of the contest, but Wolters with a beautiful floater put Maccabi on top by 6. The Yellow & Blue continued to play tough on defense, stopping the visitors on only 6 points in the first quarter, 12:6 Maccabi.
Tyler Dorsey opened the second quarter with a shot behind the arc, and Scottie Wilbekin, with five straight shots, gave the Yellow & Blue their first double-digit lead of the night, 20:9. Maccabi continued their incredible showing with Omri Casspi doing whatever he wants on the court, scoring six consecutive points, finishing a fastbreak with a huge slam, and finding Othello Hunter for a big alley hoop, Maccabi leads 30:12, midway through the second period. Maccabi ended up scoring 29 points in a fabulous quarter, 41:21 at halftime.
John DiBartolomeo, with a three, increased the lead to 23. Still, Fenerbahce didn’t say their last word, Ali Muhammad and Luigi Datome, led the visitors to 11 unanswered points to narrow Maccabi’s advantage all the way down to 8 points. Casspi calmed the Turkish momentum giving Maccabi a 52:41 lead going into the final 10 minutes.
The visitors continued to cut down the lead, however, Yovel Zoosman with a critical three-pointer gave some breathing room for the Yellow & Blue. De Colo reduced the lead to 5 points, but Tarik Black, with a couple of significant offensive rebounds helped Maccabi finish the game. Maccabi comes away with a big 67:55 victory over Fenerbahce.
