Israeli clubs come up empty in Europe

Both Tel Aviv basketball teams came up short in their respective continental clashes Tuesday night as Maccabi fell to Olympiacos in Euroleague action while Hapoel dropped its game at Prometey in EuroCup play.

Maccabi Tel Aviv was on the losing end of a 79-74 result against Olympiacos as the yellow-and-blue couldn’t dig out of a 15-point halftime deficit in Belgrade.

Without Wade Baldwin, who was out due to a stomach virus, Oded Katash’s squad allowed 51 first-half points to the Greek side as Alec Peters and Thomas Walkup built up the double-digit lead.

Tamir Blatt and Roman Sorkin scored at will in the second half to cut the lead down to just a pair of points late in the game, but that was as close as Maccabi would get as its Euroleague record dropped to 4-3 on the season.

Next up is Fenerbahce on Thursday as Israeli guard Yam Madar and former Maccabi star Scottie Wilbekin will face the yellow-and-blue, which will look to get back onto the winning track.

Against Olympiacos, Sorkin led all scorers with 16 points, Blatt added 13 points while Jasiel Rivero and James Webb each scored 10 points in the loss. Peters and Walkup scored 13 points apiece, while Isaiah Canaan and Moustapha Fall each dropped 10 points in the win.

“We lost the game in the first half defensively,” Katash explained following the game. “We did a good job in the second half defensively and played with the right energy to give ourselves a chance to win the game. It wasn’t our best day, but the last 20 minutes we brought the right energy. There are no easy games in the Euroleague, especially in a double week. It’s tough and hopefully we get a win back and we have to get ready in 48 hours and it’s not easy.”

“We didn’t expect anything other than a difficult game,” said Olympiacos head coach Georgios Bartzokas. “We are going through a difficult period. We have a very short rotation due to injuries so our preparation is not ideal. During the game itself we lost Nigel Williams-Goss and Alec Peters, but we were lucky that Luke Sikma came back and gave us 10 important minutes. This win was very important. We were leading the score the whole game, the 50/50 balls and everything that was doubtful went against us.”

Reflecting on Maccabi's loss

Blatt reflected on the loss for Maccabi.

“We were able to come back into the game due to our defense, but it wasn’t enough to win the game. Giving up 51 points in the first half is just too much and isn’t how we should be playing. That is something that we need to improve. Personally, I felt good but it isn’t important if we lost and now we have to turn our sights onto Thursday’s game.”

Canaan and Walkup scored for Olympiacos while Webb and John Dibartolomeo did the same for Maccabi Tel Aviv early on as the visitors grabbed a 9-7 lead midway through the first quarter. Canaan, Peters and Walkup all went quickly from deep to open up the lead. Sikma, fresh off of an injury, also scored a pair of baskets as Blatt’s buckets helped keep the yellow-and-blue deficit in single digits as the Greeks led 27-19 after one period.

Blatt, Jake Cohen and Rivero all drilled home 3-pointers to open up the second quarter but Williams-Goss and Peters scored to bump the lead up to 41-30 forcing Katash to call timeout with 5:32 left in the first half.

Lorenzo Brown and Webb scored, while Peters dialed up from long distance and Michalis Lountzis scored to send Bartzokas’s squad into half-time with a 51-36 lead.

Brown and Blatt found points to begin the third quarter, Kostas Papanikolaou responded by scoring from the inside and outside to increase the lead to 58-44 midway through the frame. Bonzie Colson and Alec Peters traded baskets as the latter then picked up his 5th foul, Roman Sorkin and Rivero put pressure on Olympiacos inside but the Piraeus based team stayed in front 64-55 after thirty minutes of action.

Rivero began the fourth quarter with a 3-point play, Sorkin added a bucket and one as well as a deuce, but Moustapha Fall came back with a basket to keep Olympiacos ahead 70-63 with 5:55 remaining. Webb put in a rebound, Walkup responded, Blatt came back with a jumper, Sokrin drained a triple to cut the lead to 74-72, but Walkup scored at the other end as Olympiacos hit its free-throws to close out the game and notch the win.

Hapoel Tel Aviv fell 98-89 at Prometey as its EuroCup record dropped to 4-2.

The Reds scored points aplenty early on, with Bar Timor leading the way, but Tai Odiase was unstoppable all game long as the hosts featured six players in double-digits to take the win.

Next up for Danny Franco’s team is a home-away-from-home date with Badalona in a game that will be held in Belgrade next Wednesday.

“Obviously this was not the result we wanted,” Franco said. “We didn’t find our way with intensity defensively to get into the game right. We came out with the right attitude and approach in the second half and we took a small lead and maybe got a bit comfortable. Then we made mistakes and hurt our confidence. I want to thank Prometey for hosting us so nicely during this week.”

Odiase scored 19 points, David Reed added 16 points as Ronald March and Illiya Sydorov each had 14 points in the win. Braian Angola paced Hapoel with 18 points, Jaylen Hoard and J’Covan Brown each had 15 points as Bar Timor scored 14 points in the loss.

Timor and Angola got busy early to put Hapoel Tel Aviv into the lead early on in the first quarter, but Issuf Sanon, Illiya Sydorov and Tai Odiase helped Prometey to a 29-26 lead after 10 minutes.

March and Davon Reed continued to keep the hosts in front, but Idan Zalmanson, Brown and Timor, who bumped up his game total to 14 points, gave Franco’s squad a 49-48 advantage at halftime.

Hapoel tried to pull away, but Oleksandr Lypovyy, Caleb Agada and Davon Reed put together a 14-0 run for Neno Giznburg’s team. Zalmanson tried to keep the Reds close, but Lypovyy continued to find the basket to give Prometey a 75-67 lead after 30 minutes.

Odiase scored at will in the fourth quarter to increase the lead to double-digits, Angola and Jaylen Hoard tried to cut the gap down, but Odiase and March sealed the deal to give the hosts the win.