Maccabi Electra Tel Aviv defeated French champions SLUC Nancy in the Final of the Angers Tournament 86 – 62. Eliyahu (18), Maćvan (16) and Farmar (15) were the top scorers for Maccabi. Sofo was excused from the game so that he could attend his wedding in Greece.
By Amy Samin
One week from today, on October 1st, Maccabi Electra Tel Aviv will officially open its 2011 – 2012 season with an Adriatic League game against Novo Mesto, and the team’s professional staff can face that challenge with confidence.
In their last preseason game, Maccabi defeated French champions SLUC Nancy 86 – 62 in the Final of the Angers Tournament. Lior Eliyahu had an excellent game with 18 points. Milan Maćvan, who joined the team in France on Thursday, made a superb first appearance with Maccabi in this preseason, scoring 16 points and pulling down 6 rebounds. Jordan Farmar had another great game, scoring 15 points and making 6 assists. Sofoklis Schortsanitis did not play in the game as he had gone to Greece to be married to his sweetheart. Maccabi will return to Israel on Sunday with a perfect 4 – 0 preseason record.
After the game, Maccabi’s head coach David Blatt summed up the tournament: “Of the three games we played, this one was our best. We played very well, as we did in our first game, but this time against a stronger team, a team with a guaranteed spot in the Euroleague. To play as well as we did in our third game in three days just goes to show that we have a good, deep roster. We used many different players in this tournament and each time someone else excelled. That’s how our season will look, too. We’ll need to make good use of all of our players, and that was one of our goals for this tournament.”
“Today we played without Sofo, and in essence without David Blu who only played for a few minutes since I wanted him to rest after playing for 33 minutes yesterday (Friday). Lior, Milan, and Shawn were very dominant in the paint today, and the guards also did a great job. The whole team simply played fantastic defense today. Just as this place is gorgeous, we had a beautiful and very successful tournament. We also got support from Jews from the area, and that really warmed our hearts.”
Blatt made some changes in his starting line-up, going with Jordan Farmar, Yogev Ohayon, Lior Eliyahu, Devin Smith and Shawn James. Nancy opened strong and took a 5 – 0 lead in the first minute and a half of the game. Maccabi’s first points came off a steal plus layup by Eliyahu. He was answered by Nobel Boungou-Colo for the French, but Smith quickly responded with two straight three pointers to tie the score at 8 – 8. Eliyahu scored 4 straight points and took three steals, giving Maccabi a 16 – 12 lead with three minutes left in the period. Theo Papaloukas came in for Farmar, after the latter scored from the foul line to make it 20 – 12. Points by Guy Pnini and Richard Hendrix closed out the quarter with Maccabi leading 24 – 14.
The momentum continued in Maccabi’s favor at the start of the second quarter, and after two minutes of play Maccabi’s lead had grown to 30 – 17. A steal by James and points by Eliyahu made it 35 – 20 just past the halfway mark. Eliyahu remained hot, and Milan Maćvan, in his first game of the preseason, scored to extend Maccabi’s lead. Nancy fought to get back into the game, but James put the kibosh on that plan with his excellent defense. Jon Scheyer dished to Farmar for a three that made it 40 – 27 with a minute left in the half. Maćvan continued to display his potential, and the quarter ended with a 9 – 0 scoring run that put Maccabi up by an impressive twenty points, 47 – 27.
The third quarter got underway with free throws and two straight blocks by James and a three pointer by Smith (assist Farmar); 52 – 27. The French scored to put an end to Maccabi’s run, but were soon answered by Eliyahu and Hendrix, making it 56 – 36. Points by Maćvan halfway through the period set the score at 58 – 38. The teams continued to trade baskets, keeping the point spread at or near twenty after points from the foul line by Hendrix and a three by Maćvan (assist Papaloukas). The French managed to score a couple of unanswered baskets and the third period ended with the score 66 – 49.
The French champions opened the fourth quarter determined to get back into the game, and outscored Maccabi 9 – 6 in the first three minutes; 72 – 58. Five straight points by Farmar soon fixed that, putting Maccabi up 79 – 58 just after the halfway mark in the period. Two straight baskets by Eliyahu made it 83 – 58 with three minutes left in the game. Steals by Hendrix, Eliyahu, and Hendrix again plus a fastbreak by Papaloukas (assist Eliyahu) set the final score at 86 – 62 and gave Maccabi Electra Tel Aviv their fourth preseason victory, this time over SLUC Nancy of France.
BOXSCORE
Eliyahu 18 points, 5 steals; Maćvan 16 points, 6 rebounds; Farmar 15 points, 6 assists, 4 steals; Smith 13 points; James 8 points, 5 rebounds, 4 blocks; Hendrix 6 points, 5 rebounds, 2 steals; Pnini 4 points, 3 rebounds; Ohayon 3 points, 5 assists, 2 steals; Papaloukas 2 points; Burstein 1 point.
