Their dramatic 67 – 66 win over Union Olimpija Ljubljana left Maccabi Electra Tel Aviv the only undefeated (7 – 0) team in the Adriatic League. Eliyahu was excellent with 19 points.
By Amy Samin
It was another hard-won victory for Maccabi Electra Tel Aviv, but they defeated Union Olimpija 67 – 66. Eliyahu was excellent with 19 points. Blu added 13 points and Langford contributed 11. Ohayon, who had another great night, helped guarantee the victory with a steal and layup in the final seconds of the game. Maccabi doesn’t have much chance to rest; in less than 24 hours they’ll face their biggest Israeli League rival, Hapoel Jerusalem.
Blatt’s starting five were Devin Smith, David Blu, Yogev Ohayon, Sofo Schortsanitis, and Keith Langford. Visitors Union Olimpija scored twice in the early minutes of the first quarter, but were soon answered by points from Sofo and then Langford, who went on to score from outside the arc (assist Blu) to make it 7 – 4, Maccabi. Ratko Varda and Danny Green combined to put Union Olimpija back on top, but Sofo cut through his defenders like a hot knife through butter, and Smith took a coast-to-coast trip to make it 13 – 9, Maccabi with just over four minutes left in the period. Theo Papaloukas scored on his own putback but the Slovenians continued to dog Maccabi’s heels. The first quarter ended with Maccabi up by two, 17 – 15.
The first few minutes of the second period were all Lior Eliyahu, who scored nine straight points to make it 26 – 18. Deon Thompson broke the run and Sasu Salin added more points for Union Olimpija to set the score at 26 – 22 near the halfway mark in the quarter. Blu scored off a dish from Richard Hendrix, but the visitors scored from the charity stripe to keep it close, 28 – 25 with two minutes left in the half. Varda was called for his fourth foul, and his reaction to the call led to his fouling out on a technical charge, enabling Blu to add two more points to Maccabi’s total. Thompson scored but was answered first by Hendrix and then by Langford from the foul line, and the half ended with Maccabi leading 33 – 29.
Maccabi started out well in the third period as Eliyahu once again demonstrated his skill with points and a steal that gave Maccabi some breathing room, 37 – 31 after two minutes of play in the quarter. The visitors cut that lead to one, 39 – 38 after four and a half minutes. But in the next minute, Maccabi went on a 9 – 0 scoring run thanks to Eliyahu, Blu and Langford, who played very well on both offense and defense, scoring a layup and 1 and then delivering on an alley oop from Eliyahu to make it 48 – 38, Maccabi. Maccabi’s defense continued to keep Union Olimpija reined in, while points by Eliyahu (assists Papaloukas and Blu) and Hendrix (assist Papaloukas) helped Maccabi finish out the period with a solid lead, 54 – 45.
The Slovenians were not willing to concede the game, and came out hard in the fourth quarter, going on a 7 – 0 run of their own to pull within two, 54 – 52 after a minute and fifteen seconds. Blu scored from the right corner to break their rhythm, but Green and company fought back and took the lead, 59 – 57 with three and a half minutes left in the game. Two quick buckets by Hendrix put the lead back in Maccabi’s hands, but Salin quickly tied the score at 61. Blu scored again from downtown (assist Ohayon) to make it 64 – 61, Maccabi with less than two minutes on the clock. Ohayon grabbed a timely steal and converted it to points at the other end, giving Maccabi a 66 – 62 lead with 19 seconds left. The Slovenians scored a Hail Mary at the buzzer, but it wasn’t quite enough and Maccabi Electra Tel Aviv defeated Union Olimpija Ljubljana 67 – 66.
BOXSCORE
Maccabi: Eliyahu 19 points, 9 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal; Blu 13 points, 3 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steal; Langford 11 points, 5 rebounds, 2 steals; Hendrix 8 points, 6 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steal; Schortsanitis 6 points, 4 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steal; Ohayon 6 points, 3 assists, 1 rebound, 1 steal; Papaloukas 2 points, 3 rebounds, 3 assists; Smith 2 points, 3 rebounds, 1 assist.
Top scorers for Union Olimpija: Thompson 15 points; Salin 12 points; Bertans 10 points.
