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 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 in top to take the dramatic victory thanks to Robinson’s heroics.

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 in the win.

Maccabi Head 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 8 seconds of the clock.There were a lot of situations that could have been different.”

Barcelona Head Coach Aleksander Sekulic reflected on the loss, “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.”

Kevin Punter and Justin Robinson opened the scoring for Barcelona, while Iffe Lundberg dropped a pair from deep as Bonzie Colson and Daniel Theis also scored for Maccabi Tel Aviv who grabbed a slim 24-23 lead after ten minutes of play. Clark and Punter traded triples, Oshae Brissett drained a pair from downtown, Tyrese Martin and Josh Nebo countered but a 3-pointer by Bonzie Colson gave Oded Katash’s team a 42-40 advantage at halftime.

Punter and Joel Parra pushed Aleksander Sekulic’s squad in front to begin the third quarter, Yam Madar too control with a pair from inside the arc and pair from outside of it for 10 points in under two minutes, Colson and Theis scored, Tosan Evbuomwan and Umoja Gibson answered while more points from Parra gave the hosts a 67-64 lead after thirty minutes of action.

Keaton Wallace and Clark knocked down their shots to get the final frame underway, Olivier Nkamhoua, Punter and Gibson put in points, Theis went from deep, Lundberg hit a trio of free throws to knot the game up at 87-87 with under 20 seconds remaining but a triple by Robison as time wound down handed Barcelona the win.