Maccabi Tel Aviv downed Real Madrid 79-78 in dramatic fashion as Saben Lee nailed a fadeaway jumper with under a second left on the clock to hand the yellow-and-blue the stunning victory. Oded Katash’s squad stayed neck-and-neck with Los Blancos but Chus Mateo’s team held a 78-72 lead with under two minutes to play. However, Jasiel Rivero hit a triple and a deuce before Lee’s heroics handed Maccabi the one-point win to move their Euroleague record to 3-4.

Lee scored 19 points, Rokas Jokubaitis added 17 points, Roman Sorkin chipped in with 13 points while Will Rayman grabbed 14 rebounds in the win. Mario Hezonja scored 18 points, Facundo Campazzo added 16 points and Walter Tavares scored 11 points in the loss.

“I have no words,” Katash said after the game. “We came into the game with the goal of being competitive which we did over the first ten minutes and for many parts of the game. We kept our head above water but we were just exhausted. We focused on what we had left which was our heart and it showed at the end.”

“It was a very tight game until the end,” Mateo said. “We had the option to win the game in the 4th quarter but we had some bad shots and bad offense. Our team was trying but we are having issues winning on the road. We have to keep fighting and believing and this is the only thing. We played well for 3.5 quarters of each of the games on the road but we couldn’t reach the end.”

Roman Sorkin opened the scoring with a dunk for Maccabi Tel Aviv, Walter Tavares scored in the paint and added a floater for Real Madrid but triples by Levi Randolph, Rokas Jokubaitis and Sorkin gave the yellow-and-blue an early 11-8 lead midway through the first quarter. Mario Hezonja started to put in points, Randolph dropped a midrange, Sorkin went from deep, Facundo Campazzo drove into the lane for points and Sergio Llull dialed up long distance for a pair of triples to give Los Blancos a 23-21 lead after the minutes of play.

Rivero and Xavier Rathan-Mayes traded baskets to begin the second quarter, Saben Lee went for a pair from downtown, Jokubaitis drilled a long deuce while Tavares dunked but Maccabi took the lead 33-29 with 5:12 left in the first half. Jokubaitis went from beyond the arc yet again but Chus Mateo’s team went on a 14-0 run to close the half as Campazzo went from the inside and outside to score 9 straight points, Hezonja scored and Campazzo added even more pains to take a 43-36 advantage into the lockerroom.

Randolph, Jaylen Hoard and Sorkin from deep opened up the third quarter, Hezonja and Gabriel Deck responded but Will Rayman scored off the glass to keep Oded Katash’s squad within striking distance but down 49-45 midway through the period. Sorkin scored again, Alberto Abalde and Hezonja went from deep, Deck and Tavares put in 3-point plays, Hoard came back from beyond the arc, but Abalde put in an and-one to give the visitors a 64-55 lead after thirty minutes of action.

Eli Ndiaye scored to begin the fourth quarter, Randolph and Lee countered, Jokubaitis scored as well, but Tavares scored inside to keep Real in front 71-64 either fine minutes remaining in regulation time. Jokubaitis and Rathan-Mayes traded baskets, Jokubaitis came back with another from long deuce, Rivero went from the outside and inside as Lee hit the game winning jumper to snatch the victory from the jaws of defeat.