By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
Carsen Edwards was unleashed in the third period; he dominated, but in the end, it was not enough.
With a total of 33 points, 26 of them on 8/10 threes in the third period registering two new records, Bayern’s guard seemingly made things easy for his team, however, he just set the stage for a miracle comeback.
The 16th in the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague standings, Maccabi (11-22) managed to get the 93-90 win in the closing seconds after trailing by 15, pushing Bayern to a 19-14 record and putting them in Play-In danger.
Jimmy Clark, with 20 points, was the top scorer of Maccabi, Levi Randolph had 17 points and crucial free throws, while four more players scored in double digits.
“This shows the character of our team; we never gave up, we kept fighting, they had they run, but we came back”, added Randolph.
Shabazz Napier added 17 points for Bayern.
A miracle by Maccabi
Maccabi put up a fight after trailing 22-17 in the first period by scoring 31 points in the second and having a 48-44 halftime lead with Clark scoring already 16 points for the hosts and Napier 17 for the guests.
However, Bayern opened the third period with a 13-2 run, with Edwards scoring three three-pointers to make the score 57-50 for the Germans.
Edwards was hot and, with four more threes (!), made the score 69-57, reaching the 23-point mark, with 18 points in less than seven minutes after scoring just two in the first half.
At this point, Maccabi couldn’t keep up. Edwards continued to score and pushed the lead to 15 (74-59), while the quarter ended with the score 74-62 in favor of Bayern.
Still, the Israelis and Rafi Menko, who scored 10 points in four minutes, had some gas in the tank, making it a two-point game (83-81) with four minutes left.
The momentum had changed, but Bayern held on, never losing the lead until 26 seconds before the final buzzer, when Trevion Williams gave Maccabi the 89-87 lead.
Carsen Edwards got the ball and two defenders, and this time, he missed, and Levi Randolph, with two free throws (91-87) and five seconds left, decided the outcome.
Edwards made a three again (91-90), and with 2.9 seconds on the clock, Randolph added two more free throws (93-90), and the game was over with Edwards missing from halfcourt.
Photo credit: EuroLeague