Maccabi Tel Aviv came up short at Barcelona 90-87 as Justin Robinson’s 3-pointer with time winding down proved to be the winning shot to send the yellow-and-blue to the devastating Euroleague defeat.
Both teams brought their “A” game to the table as Kevin Punter and Yam Madar put on a show for their respective sides, but it was the Blaugrana who came out on top to take the dramatic victory thanks to Robinson’s heroics. Next up for Maccabi, now 1-4 in Euroleague play, is a date at Valencia on Thursday night and sits at 4-1 on the season,
Madar scored a career high 22 points, Iffe Lundberg put in 13 points and Bonzie Colson put in 12 points in the win as Punter scored 19 points, Umoja Gibson added 13 points while Joel Parra and Robinson each scored 11 points for Barca in the win.
'There were a lot of situations that could have been different'
Maccabi coach Oded Katash spoke about the loss and some decisions that were made on the floor.
“There were some strange things going on here, but we were there in the game. The first half we could have used our fouls a bit better and our offense wasn’t at its best while we gave up a bit too many points in the first eight seconds of the clock. There were a lot of situations that could have been different.”
Barcelona coach Aleksander Sekulic reflected on his side’s win.
“Very tough match and loud atmosphere which was a big help for us as Maccabi has a team with a lot of tools. But we also have quality and talent. We only had one day to prepare but the guys excited and left their hearts on the court.”
Madar also summed up the game.
“This is the Euroleague. There are a lot of games, some tougher than others; we’ll watch the video and learn from it. We have a tough team to face on Thursday, but this was a very frustrating game. We managed to fight our way back and tie it up and obviously, the basket at the end is very frustrating. But we have to deal with it and look at what we didn’t do well.”
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