By Eurohoops team / info@eurohoops.net
FC Barcelona dominated Maccabi at home and prevailed 76-71.
Ante Tomic led the winners with 15 points, Sasha Vezenkov followed with 13, while Petteri Koponen scored 14 and Brad Oleson added 13.
For the opposing side, Gal Mekel led with 18 points and 7 assists.
Perperoglou paced the Spanish team to 18-7 at 7′, while the visitors weren’t able to break through Barca’s defense. Segev made a 2-point buzzer attempt and trimmed to 23-13 for Maccabi at 10′.
Nimrod Levi helped Maccabi approach to one point in the second quarter, while the visitors managed to keep the deficit to single digits at halftime, 40-32.
While the visitors didn’t allow Barcelona to get a broader lead in the third quarter, the latter’s energy on the court was notable. Still, after 30 minutes, the Israelis were down by 4, 58-54.
With 4 minutes to go, Joe Alexander placed the visitors just 3 points behind and when the Blaugranas have restored a “safe” lead, he striked again, 71-69.
Notably, Georgios Bartzokas left Xavier Munford out for the second game straight, with Rodions Kurucs being part of the 12-man squad instead.