The Yellow & Blue suffered an off-shooting night, dropping their second consecutive EuroLeague game. Bender led the scorers with 15 points and 8 rebounds
Based on the first quarter alone, Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv was on its way to send the 3000 Yellow & Blue fans home happy. However, basketball is played for 40 minutes, and the French side was in control for most of the second and third quarters, securing a 74:67 win over Giannis Sfairopoulos’s squad.
Without Othello Hunter, Yovel Zoosman, and Omri Casspi, who joined the injured list, Dragan Bender played a season-high 35 minutes leading all Maccabi scorers with 15 points and 8 rebounds, Tyler Dorsey and Scottie Wilbekin each contributed 14, and Ante Zizic concluded the night with 12 points and 8 boards.
Game Recap:
Maccabi opened the contest with Chris Jones, Scottie Wilbekin, Elijah Bryant, Dragan Bender, and Ante Zizic in the starting five. Norris Cole, Antoine Diot, David Lighty, Guerschon Yabusele, and Moustapha Fall began for the French.
The hosts got off to a hot start playing excellent team basketball as Jones drilled a mid-range jumper and dished an assist to Bender, who knocked down a shot from deep. Next possession, the Croatian big man spotted his fellow countryman Zizic, who slammed it down for a quick 7:0 advantage. The momentum shifted towards the visitors as Cole responded with 5 points as part of a 10:2 run leading to Villeurbanne’s first lead of the night.
Bryant sparked 9 Yellow & Blue unanswered points finishing strong at the rim and finding Wilbekin for an open triple, who later added points in the paint, giving Maccabi a double-digit edge. Amine Noua closed out the quarter with points inside, reducing the advantage, 22:14.
The French momentum continued in the first minutes of the second quarter as Noua knocked down a triple which cut the lead down to 2. The hosts’ first field goal came 4 minutes in as Bender slammed a one-handed jam and one while performing excellently on the defensive end leading to a Tyler Dorsey triple and T.J Cline’s first points in the EuroLeague, 32:26.
Asvel turned it around and grabbed the lead in the final minutes of the first half as a Cole three-pointer and Yabusele’s shot from behind the arc highlighted a 10:0 stretch, sending the teams to halftime with a 34:37 score.
The Croatian big men were the main points producers in the opening minutes of the third, scoring 7 straight points, while on the other end, Diot kept the edge connecting from deep and delivering a shot from the top of the key, 43:50.
The Yellow & Blue scored only 5 points in the final 5 minutes of the quarter, and the French took advantage to ramp up the margin to 9 after Derrick Walton Jr joined the scorers’ table, 48:57.
Paul Lacombe tipped in an offensive board, giving Villeurbanne their first double-digit advantage of the night. Bender worked his way in the paint converting back to back three-point possessions reducing the lead down to 6, 56:62.
Cole hit consecutive jumpers, earning a 12 point edge, but with 2:30 minutes left, Dorsey led Maccabi to an 11:2 run connecting 8 straight points (6 from the free-throw line), 67:70. With 21 seconds left, Fall secured Asvel’s victory with a strong put-back dunk. Villeurbanne beats Maccabi 74:67
