In a tough and an aggressive basketball night, Maccabi Tel Aviv held to a 71-69 win at Rome over Lottomatica and stayed in the hunt for the playoffs. Jamie Arnold the fighter controlled the paint with 17 points and 12 rebounds, Will Bynum bounced back with one of his best performances of the season (17 points and 5 assists), and at the end it was another heroic effort from the never ending captain, Derrick Sharp, who scored all of his 8 points in the last minute of the game. It was just the second road win all year for the yellows.
Jeretin played 36 minutes as appoint guard and Bynum played fantastic as a second guard scoring two triples in the beginning. Bynum was Maccabi's premier offensive weapon in the first half with 13 points. Arnold came quickly off the bench, and although it was alow score game like the Italians wanted to, Maccabi TA led at half-time 35-28.
The third quarter was Maccabi's weakest period, scoring just 10 points. Roma ran away for a 58-52 lead, but the last 5 minutes of the game were Maccabi's minutes. Nikola Vujcic, who had a relatively quiet evening, woke up just in time and scored 5 straight points including a big three pointer, 58-57. Sharp, who's nickname is "sharp shooter" buried a huge three and went 6 times for the line, scoring 5 times. Vujcic almost lost a crucial ball at the end, but Simas Jasaitis saved it and passed to Arnold who dunked to ensure the win. Mire Chatman led Roma with 19 points and Bodiroga, who was in doubt because of an injury, contributed just 10 points.