Maccabi had a huge come-from-behind 90-84 victory over second-placed Olympiacos in front of a crowd of 9,996 at Yad Eliyahu on Tuesday night. The Yellow & Blue are now 2/2 this week after their derby win against Hapoel Tel Aviv on Sunday night, and sit seventh in the Euroeague standings with five wins and four losses. Here are a few of my reflections from the round 5 clash.

The Good: Big moments
There were a lot of goods tonight, and it’s hard to pick one thing that stood out. There were two huge moments which got me out of my seat.

There has been a lot of criticism of Maccabi’s rebounding this season, but last night the yellow and blue won the rebound count 40-26. The one that stood out for me was a huge offensive rebound from Josh Nebo (5 points, 7 rebounds and 1 block in 16:17) with 1:32 left in the second quarter, following which he drew a foul and went to the line to shoot two free throws. It was not so much the stage of the game or the score line (Maccabi trailing 41-42) that caused me to focus on this, but rather that it was the display of strength and a real desire to get the ball in the offensive paint, which is has been lacking from the bigs this season.

The other huge moment happened with 1:03 left in the final quarter and Maccabi leading 82-77. Kostas Sloukas (15 points, 2 rebounds and 5 assists) grabbed a defensive rebound and hurried down the court on a three on two fast break. He passed the ball beautifully to Sasha Vezenkov (17 points and 10 rebounds) who, when going for the layup, was blocked in spectacular fashion from behind by a out-stretched Roman Sorkin (4 points and 3 rebounds). Not only did the block prevent Olympiacos from making it a one possession game, but Sorkin at the time was sitting on 4 fouls (more about that below). It really epitomized Maccabi’s fourth quarter, which the yellow and blue won 27-15 (with 10 of the visitors’ points coming within the last 2 minutes of the game).

There were some huge contributions across the board from the Maccabi players, and special mentions go to the game MVP Wade Baldwin IV (22 points, including 4/7 from 3 and a perfect 8/8 from the line), captain John DiBartolomeo (11 points, 7 rebounds, 3 assists and 2 steals in just under 22 minutes), and Jarrell Martin (13 points (including 2/4 from 3) and 5 rebounds in 17 and a half minutes).

“He gave us so much energy, he made some huge defensive plays which great effort”, Austin Hollins (8 points and 2 assists in 12:35) said of his captain. “Everyone else kind of fell in line after that. A lot of times this year he has been that [momentum] for us.”

DiBartolomeo himself was modest about his performance and focused on the team effort when asked about his captain’s performance: “I think that everyone made hustle plays in the second half, I think that’s what got us back in the game. The energy from each other, the energy from the crowd, really fueled our momentum, and we were able to take the lead back and close out.”

“It felt great to go out there, have an effect on the game and help my team get a victory,” Martin said in his breakout EuroLeague performance. “I feel great [about the team], I feel like our chemistry is coming together, we’ve just got to keep rolling and keep bringing it together.”

I’m really happy for Jarell,” Maccabi coach Oded Katash said of Martin after the game. “He works very hard and wants to learn and integrate. It’s not easy for a player without European experience and I’m very happy with how he played, especially in his position, which can be a very big help.”

The Bad: Olympiacos’s third quarter run
Olympiacos came back from the main break looking a little more invigorated than Maccabi, and it showed on the scoreboard. The visitors turned a 47-45 halftime lead into a 61-50 lead within 7 minutes of play in the third quarter, thanks in large part to Vezenkov, who alone had 7 points in that period, and 5 rebounds, 3 fouls drawn and 1 assist for the quarter. While Maccabi eventually drew within 6 points at the end of the third frame courtesy of a last-second 3-pointer from Bonzie Colson (3 points and 2 blocks in just under 13 and a half minutes), for a large part, the third quarter was a showing of a lot of the “bad” that we’ve seen from Maccabi this year.

The Ugly: Sorkin’s first half foul troubles
It can be difficult refereeing in front of a huge crowd, and last night was no exception. There were a couple of questionable calls against Sorkin, which the crowd was not happy about.

With Maccabi down 11-8 with 4:40 to go in the first quarter, Sorkin fouled Moustapha Fall (2 points and 4 rebounds) as he went up for a dunk, sending him to the line for two free throws (although Sorkin himself seemed convinced that he only got the ball). Fall made both shots. On the next play, Thomas Walkup (2 points and 9 assists) stole the ball from Maccabi due to an errant pass from Austin Hollins to Wade Baldwin, and Sorkin seemed to get a clean block on Walkup’s dunk attempt, however he was again called for a foul, sending Walkup to the line for two shots, both of which he made. Not only did this increase the deficit to 15-8 with 4:26 left in the first quarter, but Sorkin – such an important player for Maccabi – was already in foul trouble only 5 and a half minutes into the game, forcing Katash to take him out of the game.

After eight minutes of playing time, Sorkin returned, but less than three minutes he brought up his third foul with a foul against Shaquielle McKissic (2 points and 1 assist) as he drove to the basket, and Katash again had to take out one of his players.

Sorkin’s fourth foul then came just under halfway through the last quarter, with Maccabi leading 73-71. Given his importance to the team, there were some worried looks from the home fans who feared that he may ultimately find himself fouled out, or at the very least it would inhibit his place. Ultimately, Sorkin did play a pivotal role for the hosts in the last frame, and did what he needed to do in the end – however, he will want to avoid finding himself in similar situations going forward.

Up Next: Another trip to Belgrade
Maccabi now flies to Belgrade for its Thursday night game against the Red Star. While the Serbian side is sitting in 16th spot in the standings with three wins and six losses, they will come in confident after a 88-84 away win in overtime against ALBA Berlin last night, and two wins in row after they replaced former coach Vladimir Jovanovic with Dusko Ivanovic. Those tuning in at home need to be aware that this game is starting at an earlier time of 18:30 Israel / 11:30 EST, due to Serbia’s World Cup clash against Brazil later in the evening.

“You know, we’re going to game plan, watch some film, and try to get better in the next couple of days, and we’ll be ready to play”, Hollins, who played for Red Star last season, said of the round 10 clash.

“Really important game, obviously a quick turnaround, we can expect them to be very aggressive, and it will be a very physical game in front of a hostile environment,” DiBartolomeo said. “We haven’t won in Belgrade [since a 78-76 victory over Red Star almost 9 years ago to the day], we also haven’t won on the road in the EuroLeague this year, so it’s another challenge for us, and we need to step up.”