Maccabi Tel Aviv came up short at Bayern Munich 72-70 as the Yellow & Blue fell apart in the fourth quarter to hand the win to the hosts. Ioannis Sfairopoulos’s squad controlled the game for 30 minutes as Ante Zizic was a force inside, but Wade Baldwin scored 8 of his 15 points in the final frame and Nick Weiler-Babb score the decisive free throws with under 10 seconds to go to snatch the win from the jaws of defeat. The loss moves Maccabi’s record to 10-14 as they are mired in the bottom half of the standings while Bayern sits at 16-10 good for fourth place.

Zizic led Maccabi with 18 points, Scottie Wilbekin added 10 points and Tyler Dorsey scored 9 points in the loss. Wade Baldwin scored 16 points, Ex-Maccabi center Jalen Reynolds scored 15 points and Paul Zipser added 10 points in the win.

Jajuan Johnson hit a jumper to get the game started while Vladimir Lucic took a full court pass from Wade Baldwin and added an easy layup on the break for a quick Bayern Munich lead. But Ante Zizic and Angelo Caloiaro scored in the paint, Elijah Bryant hit a runner and Dragan Bender went from downtown to give the Yellow & Blue a 8-4 lead midway through the first quarter. Baldwin, Jalen Reynolds and Paul Zipser scored but Sandy Cohen and Tyler Dorsey countered for Maccabi, however Reynolds nailed a triple to keep the hosts close down 21-18.

Zizic and Chris Jones put in points for Ioannis Sfairopoulos’s squad while Scottie Wilbekin nailed a 3-pointer and Omri Casspi scored in the paint but James Gist and Reynolds found points for Andrea Trinchieri’s team to keep pace 32-28 with 4:55 left in the second quarter. Nick Weiler-Babb scored from downtown, as did Bender at the other end while Dorsey put in a nice layup off a terrific John Dibartolomeo pass but Johnson scored to cut the Maccabi lead to a single point 38-37.

Wilbekin opened the third quarter with a floater, Bryant scored from deep and Wilbekin went for an off balance layup to give Maccabi a 46-39 advantage midway through the frame. Zizic in the paint, free throws by Jones and a midrange jumper by Oz Blazyer kept the visitors rolling but Reynolds with a pair of buckets and Zipser from distance tried to keep Bayern close, however, Hunter on a cutback and a great Jones slicing lay-up to stay in front 58-51 after thirty minutes.

DJ Seeley started the fourth quarter with a bucket, Zizic answered with a dunk but Baldwin with a triple and a deuce pulled Bayern even at 62-62 with just over five minutes remaining in the frame. Baldwin with a another basket, Zizic with another dunk kept the teams neck and neck but Zipser with a two from distance, Lucic blocked Dorsey and sent Baldwin on his way for a layup to put Bayern in the drivers seat 68-64 with 2:07 left in regulation.

Wilbekin with points, James Gist scored a turnaround bucket in the paint, but Zizic inside and John Dibartolomeo with a layup knots the game up at 70-70 with 18 seconds left on the clock. But an untimely foul by Bryant on Weiler-Babb allowed the guard to drain his two free throws and Wilbekin missed a last gasp triple as Maccabi fell in Germany effectively ending any chance of advancing to the playoffs.