By Amy Samin

In the final game of the Top 16 round, which was a mere formality, Maccabi Electra Tel Aviv lost to Lottomatica Roma by a score of 82 – 69.
Offensively, Eliyahu and Perkins were the only bright spots of the evening. Maccabi will face Caja Laboral in the quarterfinals, after the Spaniards secured a road win against Rytas Vilna and took first place in their group.
Panathinaikos finished in second place and will play against Barcelona.

Chuck Eidson, Jeremy Pargo, Lior Eliyahu, Doron Perkins and Sofoklis Schortsanitis were given the nod by head coach David Blatt, while Roma led off with Darius Washington, Andrea Crosariol, Luigi Datome, Nemanja Gordic, and Vladimir Dasic.
Maccabi got off to a great start, going on a 7 – 0 scoring run that included points by Sofo, and a three pointer from Eidson on the left side in the first two and a half minutes.
By the five minute mark, Datome and Washington had narrowed the gap to 11 – 7.
Perk scored from outside the arc, but his teammates couldn’t get their shots to drop, and with two minutes left in the period, Roma made it 15 – 14.
The hosts went on to tie the score, then points by Charles Smith gave Roma the lead with seconds remaining.
Time ran out on the period with Rome up 21 – 17.

Roma kept up the momentum as the second quarter got underway, extending their lead to 25 – 19 off a steal and dunk by Dasic after a minute of play.
Sofo and Mačvan scored in the paint to narrow the gap to 27 – 23, but Gordic and Datome scored from downtown to reopen the lead for Rome.
Maccabi fought hard to prevent a scoring run by the hosts, and points by David Blu, Richard Hendrix and Eliyahu kept Maccabi within five, 38 – 33 with three minutes left in the half.
Pargo nailed a pair of threes to return the lead to Maccabi, but a layup by Crosariol soon put Roma up by one.
Points from downtown by Guy Pnini tied the score at the end of the half, 42 – 42.

Roma continued to dominate in the third quarter, and after four and a half minutes had taken the score to 49 – 42.
Eliyahu scored twice for Maccabi, and Eidson added a layup, but Roma was relentless.
By the end of the third quarter the hosts led 60 – 48.

The home team continued to extend their lead at the start of the fourth quarter, reaching 63 – 48 before a steal and points by Hendrix made it 63 – 50 after a minute of play.
Perkins, Eliyahu and Hendrix scored for Maccabi but Roma maintained their comfortable lead; with two minutes left in the game the Italians led 76 – 60.
The game wound down to its finish, and Maccabi Electra Tel Aviv came away with an 82 – 69 loss to Lottomatica Roma.

Box Score:

Maccabi: Eliyahu 14 points, 8 rebounds; Perkins 14 points, 6 rebounds, 5 assists; Hendrix 7 points, 7 rebounds; Schortsanitis 7 points; Pnini, Pargo and Blu 6 points each; Eidson 5 points; Mačvan 4 points.

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