The 83-67 win by Maccabi Elite Tel Aviv over Ulker, assured them this evening a place in the quarter final playoffs of the Euroleague. It was Maccabi's fourth consecutive win and the first by coach Pini Gershon in Istanbul.
Once again it was due to an incredible third period which Maccabi started 43-44 down before a 9-0 run and 21-4 in the period which put Maccabi 64-48 up. The four points scored by Ulker were the lowest ever in a quarter by a home team in the Euroleague.
Eight three pointers from 17 attempts by the home team in the first half, enabled them to lead throughout. But in the second half they missed all ten attempts from the perimeter.
Maccabi won this evening mainly because they played some excellent defense and despite of a mediocre offensive display. Anthony Parker made 4-12 FG and Sarunas Jasikevicius 2-9 FG. Maceo Baston was the MVP with 17 pts, 5 rbds, 2 steals & 2 blocked shots.
Other Maccabi scorers: Thomas 13 pts, 8 rbds, 2 bsts, Vujcic 13 pts, 8 rbds, 4 ass, Parker 12 pts, 8 rbds, 4 as, Burstein 12 pts, 4 ass, Saras 10 pts, 7 ass, Sharp 6 pts. Top scorers for Ulker: Erdogan 21 (4-7 for 3 pts), Acik 11 pts.