By Eurohoops team / info@eurohoops.net
AS Monaco survived an intense game at home and Scottie Wilbekin’s outbreak to beat Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv 82-76 for Round 18 of the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague, in the sole display of Wednesday night. The Monaco-based side snapped a two-game skid to improve to a 7-11 record in the standings in their final game for 2021.
Donatas Motiejunas scored 10 of his total 16 points in the third quarter to give Monaco a 56-51 edge after 30 minutes, though Maccabi chipped away the deficit to make it a one-point game in the last four minutes.
Alpha Diallo also contributed 16 points including a big-time three to give his team a breather (38′, 73-66), while Mike James recorded his third double-double of the season with 12 points and 13 assists.
“We won and we’re making steps to get better every day. Winning is always a good thing, it makes you feel like you’re working and it’s paying off, so I’m happy with that”, said James after the game.
Dwayne Bacon and Leo Westermann were added to the list of top scorers with 11 and 10 points respectively.
Scottie Wilbekin single-handedly tried to steal the victory for the visitors with 31 points and four assists, though his efforts fell short down the stretch. This marked his second-best performance of the season; he dropped 37 points in Maccabi’s Round 10 meeting with Monaco in Tel Aviv.
Ante Zizic followed with 10 points and Keenan Evans dropped 8 points and 7 rebounds for the Israeli side. Giannis Sfairopoulos’ squad suffered its eighth consecutive defeat, to actually tie Monaco in the standings with a 7-11 record.
Photo: EuroLeague