By Amy Samin

The 76 – 62 win over Partizan mt:s Belgrade has assured Maccabi Electra Tel Aviv of the number one spot in their group in the Euroleague.
Lior Eliyahu was top scorer with 16 points (100% from two point range), Pargo added 14 points, and Eidson contributed 13 points and 9 rebounds.
Before the game, the club presented the Greek ambassador to Israel with a plaque of appreciation for that country’s aid in fighting the tragic fire in the Carmel region, and Eidson received his award for being named Euroleague Player of the Month for November.

Coach Blatt’s starting five of Jeremy Pargo, Lior Eliyahu, Chuck Eidson, Doron Perkins and Sofoklis Schortsanitis got off to a great start with their usual tough defense and a smoothly operating offense, going to an 11 – 2 lead off points by Eliyahu and Eidson in the first three minutes of the period.
Maccabi’s defense continued to keep a choke-hold on Partizan, until James Gist managed to score five straight points for the visitors to close the gap to 13 – 7 just past the halfway mark in the quarter.
Points from co-captain Tal Burstein and David Blu put Maccabi’s lead in double digits, 20 – 7 with two minutes remaining, and Pargo rounded things out to finish the quarter with Maccabi in the lead, 23 – 11.

Partizan started strong in the second quarter, narrowing the gap to 23 – 17 in the first two minutes, but a dunk by Sofo over the head of Nathan Jawai stopped the visitor’s momentum.
Points by Eliyahu and Yaniv Green extended Maccabi’s lead to twelve, 31 – 19 midway through the period.
Perkins, who was his usual strong self on defense, became the only player to score from beyond the arc, knocking down a three to put Maccabi up by fourteen, 35 – 21 with two minutes left in the quarter.
He soon followed those points with a steal/layup and one, which took the lead to twenty, 42 – 22.
In the few seconds remaining in the half Maccabi managed another steal (Eidson) and a block (Perk), and the teams went into the break with Maccabi leading 42 – 24.

Eliyahu kicked things off in the third quarter with two more points on his way to a perfect night, and Pargo soon followed suit with a drive to the basket, making it 46 – 24, Maccabi after a minute of play in the period.
Eidson scored four straight (off assists from Perk and Eliyahu) and had time to pick Curtis Jerrells’ pocket before the teams went into time out with the score 52 – 28, three and a half minutes into the period.
Maccabi’s defense (including Green with a huge block on Jawai and another steal by Perk) kept Partizan away from the hoop; halfway through the period they had scored only four points.
Jaka Klobucar scored twice in an effort to close the distance, but Maccabi responded quickly with points by Sofo, and the quarter ended with Maccabi leading by twenty, 60 – 40.

Jerrells scored a quick three for the visitors at the start of the fourth quarter, but a mini-hook shot by Sofo and a Blu catch-and-shoot quickly negated it.
Points by Burstein, Sofo and Green made it 72 – 49 after five minutes.
In the second half of the final period Maccabi eased up, allowing Partizan to reduce the lead, but the game ended in a 76 – 62 victory for Maccabi Electra Tel Aviv over Partizan mt:s Belgrade.
The win guaranteed Maccabi first place in Group A of the Euroleague, and provided the club’s best record at this point in the season since 1993 – 1994.

Box Scores:

Maccabi: Eliyahu 16 points; Pargo 14 points, 4 rebounds; Eidson 13 points, 9 rebounds, 4 assists, 3 steals; Schortsanitis 10 points; Burstein 8 points; Perkins 6 points, 3 assists, 3 steals; Green 5 points; Blu 4 points.

Partizan:
Gist 14 points; Jerrells 13 points; Klobucar 11 points; Jawai 7 points; Lucic 6 points; Katic and Kecman 5 points each; Vesely 1 point.

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