By Amy Samin
Maccabi Electra Tel Aviv defeated Belgian champion Spirou Basket Charleroi 87 – 83 in a friendly game held in Belgium on Wednesday. Sofoklis Schortsanitis scored 21 points and Jeremy Pargo had 16. Tal Burstein remained at home in Israel with his pregnant wife.
Blatt’s starting five were Pargo, David Blu, Chuck Eidson, Guy Pnini and Sofo. The Belgians played well in the first quarter, and the period ended with the home team leading 22 – 17. Sofo and Pargo were the lynchpins in Maccabi’s return to the game, and three minutes into the second quarter the visitors had taken a 28 – 26 lead; by halftime the score was 43 – 37, Maccabi.
Charleroi stayed close, and by the end of the third period were trailing by only three, 61 – 58. Maccabi protected their lead in the final period, and led by a score of 80 – 74 with two minutes left in the game. The Belgians started to stage a comeback, but Eidson ensured they wouldn’t take the win, and Maccabi Electra Tel Aviv returned home with an 87 – 83 victory over Spirou Basket Charleroi.
Box Score:
Maccabi: Schortsanitis 21 points; Pargo 16 points; Eidson 14 points; Eliyahu 10 points; Mačvan 9 points; Pnini 6 points; Blu and Sharp 4 points each; Hendrix 3 points.
After the game, Maccabi head coach David Blatt said, “We achieved the goal we had for this trip: two good practices plus a tough game. We arrived here feeling relaxed, which enabled us to focus on the very important mission we have before us next week – to bring the championship back to Maccabi. The guys are taking this mission very seriously, and this trip is a direct continuation of the good practices we’ve had recently.”
“We played well against a good home team that came into this game with a lot of excitement, determined to prove themselves against the second best team in the Euroleague. It was a tough but clean game. The win didn’t come easily, and that’s what I wanted. We were able to practice some things in preparation for the Israeli Final Four, and also to divide up the playing time well. It’s important to know how to play, and how to win, and we did that. We’re leaving here with a very good feeling.”