Lee-Sanity! Saben Lee leads Maccabi Tel Aviv to victory in unforgettable Euroleague debut

Oct 15, 2024 | Holyland Hoops

Maccabi Tel Aviv clipped Anadolu EFES 93-91 in Euroleague action as newcomer Saben Lee scored at will and then fed Jaylen Hoard for the winning basket to secure the dramatic victory in Belgrade. The yellow-and-blue came into Round 3 without a number of players including Rokas Jokubaitis and Wenyan Gabriel due to injury and less than week after Jordan Loyd departed the club due to the security situation in Israel. However, the recently signed Saben Lee who arrived from Turkish club Manisa joined up with his Maccabi teammates less than 24 hours before tipoff and had an instant impact for his new club.

After a back and forth first quarter that saw both teams going neck-and-neck Saben Lee introduced himself to his new fanbase with a mega dunk as he took control of the pace of play and Maccabi offense form there on in. Vincent Poirier caused the yellow-and-blue all kinds of problems in the paint while Jordan Nwora was key from the outside, however, Lee continued to score with ease as Blatt hit his shots down the stretch and Hoard scored inside including the winning basket to move Maccabi’s record to 2-1 on the season.

Saben Lee – Photo credit: Djordje Kostic


Lee scored 23 points, Hoard added 18 points and Blatt dropped 14 points in the win. Poirier scored 22 points and Nwora chipped with 21 points in the loss.

Oded Katash – Photo credit: Yehuda Halickman


“I am really happy for the players with the effort,” Maccabi Tel Aviv Head Coach Oded Katash said. “We struggled in the first quarter but we found a way to stay in the game. We didn’t know what to expect from Saben in this game and we lost two of our main guards last week in Rokas who was injured and Jordan who left. We have to give Saben a lot of credit because in 15 minutes of practice he became a little familiar with some of our plays and I am happy for him and I am happy to have him.”

“It’s very difficult and our guys did a tremendous job fighting against a team that has a very well established offense between the guards and the bigs,” EFES Head Coach Tomislav Mijatovic said. “We wanted to create more issues for the likes of Tamir Blatt. We fought through some injuries and we had the last ball on the road with a chance to win the game so we must be doing something well. It’s still early in the season and we will work to get better and go step by step.”

Saben Lee and Levi Randolph – Photo credit: Djordje Kostic


The game MVP Saben Lee who just joined Maccabi Tel Aviv spoke about the win, “I’m just grateful that I am here with a good group of guys that showed confidence in me and let me play my game. This court has definitely showed me love for sure. Going into this we knew it was going to be a dogfight and wee knew that EFES is a great team so we wanted to match their intensity and we did a great job.”

Roman Sorkin – Photo credit: Djordje Kostic


Roman Sorkin opened the scoring for Maccabi Tel Aviv while Rafi Menco added a pair of buckets as well but points from the inside and outside by Ercan Osmani and baskets in the paint by Vincent Poirier gave Anadolu EFES a 14-9 lead midway through the first quarter. Darius Thompson found the bottom of the basket, Jasiel Rivero countered with a trio of buckets, Poirier put down two dunks, John Dibartolomeo drilled home a triple as did Jake Cohen from the corner to cut down the lead to 24-23 after ten minutes of play.

Levi Randolph – Photo credit: Djordje Kostic


Dan Oturu scored inside, Levi Randolph hit a fadeaway jumper, Saban Lee put down a monster dunk, Dogus Ozdemiroglu scored a pair of buckets, Sorkin went from the outside and then the inside as Rolands Smits found points for EFES to stay in front 34-32 with 6:04 left in the first half. Poirier put down a reverse dunk over Cohen, Saben nailed a 3-pointer over an outstretched Poirier, Blatt went for a pair from deep, Thompson scored two baskets, Hoard put in a deuce, Lee put in a 3-point play but a last seined Jordan Nwora runner knotted the game up at 52-52 at halftime.

John Dibartolomeo – Photo credit: Djordje Kostic


Shane Larkin scored his first points of the game to start off the third quarter, Randolph went from deep, Poirier cut through the Maccabi defense like a hot knife through butter for a dunk, Rivero scored, Larkin and Nwora responded as the score remained tied up at 62-62 midway through the frame. Thompson and Blatt traded baskets, Rodrigue Beaubois went from downtown, Poirier and Nwora scored, Lee went from way downtown, Blatt fed Hoard for an alley-oop and-one to head into the final frame down by just a pair of points 74-72 after thirty minutes of action.

Saben Lee – Photo credit: Djordje Kostic


Lee waltzed in for a pair of layups to begin the fourth quarter, Rivero found points, Lee added yet another basket and Nwora scored but Maccabi went up 80-76 with 5:30 left in regulation time. Hoard scored off a Lee assist, Poirier and Beaubois scored, Hoard put in a 3-point play, Lee added points, Larkin and Beaubois scored floaters, Blatt went from deep and so did Nwora to tie the game up at 91-91 but Lee fed Hoard in the paint for the winning basket.

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