Monaco has Maccabi up against the wall

Maccabi Tel Aviv fell 83-78 to AS Monaco on Tuesday night at Yad Eliyahu, giving the visitors a 2-1 series lead and putting the yellow-and-blue on the brink of elimination.The team from the principality will have a chance to punch its ticket to the Euroleague Final Four on Thursday night in Game 4 of the best-of-five duel, which will also be in Tel Aviv.

The loss puts Oded Katash and his squad’s backs up against the wall in the quarterfinal as Maccabi came up short for only the third time at home in continental play all season long.

Despite having a partisan crowd of over 11,000 fans in stands, Monaco set the tempo from the get-go as Mike James controlled the pace of the game from the opening tip by scoring 18 first-half points en-route to a game-high 21 as Bonzie Colson tried to keep the hosts close.

But Jordan Loyd and Elie Okobo added points over the final 20 minutes while James played facilitator to move Sasa Obradovic’s club to within one win of the semifinals slated for Kaunas, Lithuania.

Colson was Tel Aviv’s main scorer with 17 points, Wade Baldwin added 16 points and Lorenzo Brown scored 12 points in the loss. Loyd added 15 points, Okobo scored 12 points and John Brown chipped in with 11 points in the win.“A playoff game is always hard to play and there was a lot of pressure,” Monaco’s Obradovic said. “After having been a player and then a coach you understand the mental component of the game... It was just one win and we have to now focus on the second game [in Tel Aviv]. We did a great job on their set plays and controlling the main players and the result.”

“We knew before the game it was not going to be easy and we would have to play our A game in order to beat Monaco,” Katash began. “The fans were amazing and I hope that we will do the job on Thursday to make them happy.”The Maccabi fans were out in full force over three hours before tipoff as they greeted each player as they drove up to the arena with song and dance. However, when the Monaco bus arrived, those tunes quickly dissipated into jeers as hundreds of supporters made sure to tell the visitors exactly how they felt about their arrival. Flares were set off in a variety of colors which stopped the bus dead in its tracks as smoke billowed out from the street.

Fans raced towards the gates

Seconds after the players entered the arena, the fans raced towards the gates to make sure and fill up the seats as quickly as possible to give the Monaco players a rousing welcome when they ascended to the floor for the pre-pregame warmups. Horns blared, trumpets trumpeted and the boos rained down the second the players showed their faces.

When it came to the pregame warmups, confetti rained down on the Monaco players while minutes later Maccabi led by captain John DiBartolomeo entered into the arena with to a hero’s welcome as the fans cheered for each player one at a time, serenading them at the top of their lungs.

Jordan Loyd started off game three just as he ended Game 2 with a triple, but Wade Baldwin came back with a deuce to get the proceedings under way. Donatas Motiejunas drilled a corner three, but back-to-back buc

kets by Colson and Lorenzo Brown knotted the game up at 6-6 midway through the first quarter.James finally showed up to the series as he went from the inside and outside for a pair while two early fouls sent Brown to the bench, as Loyd went from deep and Ellie Okobo hit a floater but Roman Sorkin responded, however, Sasa Obradovic’s team led 22-16 after 10 minutes of play.

Lorenzo Brown, who received the biggest cheer of them all, came back on the court to begin the second quarter as he quickly went from the inside and dished to Colson, who went from the outside and inside to knot the game up at 24-24 with 7:43 left in the first half.

James came right back with a basket inside and then points from way downtown, Motiejunas scored a tough turnaround and James took the ball to the hole. Jaron Blossomgame scored in the paint as did Alex Poythress at the other end but another deuce by Motiejunas gave the visitors a 41-32 advantage at halftime.

If anyone was wondering when James would finally make his mark, they’ll look no further than the first half as No. 55 went 3-of-6 from both inside and outside of the arc plus a trio of free throws to drop 18 points in a cool 15 minutes. The one-time Hapoel Galil Elyon guard has traveled throughout Europe and starred in many locales, including CSKA Moscow and Milano, while also having made stops with the Brooklyn Nets, Phoenix Suns and New Orleans Pelicans. However, his signing with Monaco not only put the club on the basketball map but it also gave James the chance to have a team of his own and one that he would be the star of the show.

Darrun Hilliard, who had wanted to be one of the stars of the show when he joined Maccabi, came out strong with a four-point play to get the third quarter going. Hilliard then fed Josh Nebo for an alley-oop, which Yakuba Ouatarra answered, while James dialed up from long distance.

Hilliard scored off the wing, but Loyd came back with another triple to keep Monaco in front 49-44 midway through the frame.

Loyd put in a floater, Colson scored a 3-point play, Loyd put in another bucket, Martin checked in with a 3-point play, Poythress put in a deuce and DiBartolomeo drilled home a 3-pointer to head into the final frame down by just three points (60-57).

The tension started to build as the matchup headed into the fourth quarter as neither Baldwin or Lorenzo Brown had made their mark on the game. However, it was the Euroleague rookie Colson who had been keeping Maccabi competitive with 15 points over the first three periods while also scoring the opening points of the fourth quarter. Okobo, Alpha Diallo and Donta Hall all scored from the line to bump up the lead to 68-59 with 7:12 remaining in regulation time.

The yellow-and-blue fans came alive when DiBartolomeo went from deep and Brown added a pair, but Okobo came back with a layup off a steal, Diallo came back with points as did John Brown to create separation once again. While Baldwin hit a corner 3-pointer, Loyd knocked down a pair of free throws to wrap up the win and silence the stunned Maccabi faithful.