Since February 10th Maccabi Elite Tel Aviv did not olose a game in the Euroleague. But after a run of 11 wins, the Euroleague Champions lost tonight in Piraeus 78-83 vs Olympiacos.
This was a game that we will want to forget as soon as possible mainly because of the poor performance of the Maccabi players especially Parker, Vujcic & Baston that were very well stopped by the home team defense. Parker scored his first pts after 17 minutes, Baston had only 2 pts in the game and Vujcic finished the first half with 2 free throws only.
Maccabi had a 18-12 lead at the end of the first quarter but the home team took a 35-29 lead and at half time 39-36. Maccabi started the second half with a 7-0 run and it looked like they are taking control of the game (45-39). The Greeks came back (54-54), led 60-59 but Parker had the final say 61-60 at the end of the third period.
Led by ex Maccabi player Quincy Lewis, who had an excellent game, Olympiacos ran 8-0 and led 68-61. But Maccabi responded immediately with a 13-0 run executed by Burstein, Green & Vujcic. With four minutes to go the Yellows were 74-68 up. But the Reds were not finished and Lewis and the big man Schortanitis, regained the lead. A series of free throws (28-30 from the line) assured Olympiacos their deserved win.
Will Solomon was Maccabi`s top scorer with 19n pts in 43% FG. He pulled down 7 rbds, made 4 steals but had only one assist. Tal Burstein had an excellent second half and he ended the game with 9 pts, 8 rbds & 6 assist.
Parker (11 pts) was in poor shooting form with 29% FG (4-14), 2 rbds & 4 assists. Vujcic scored 9 pts in 30% FG, pulled down 5 rbds and dished out 5 assists.
Other Maccabi scorers:
