Maccabi Tel Aviv defeated Fenerbahçe Istanbul 94-76 on Thursday night in Belgrade after an emphatic second-half performance, in the first EuroLeague game in nearly three weeks after the State Cup break (in which both Maccabi and Fenerbahçe won their respective State Cups) and international window.

While Maccabi’s European season is all but over, sitting 17^th place in the standings (7 wins and 20 losses), this didn’t stop the Yellow & Blue from putting in one of their best performances of the season against a Fenerbahçe outfit which sits 2^nd place in the standings (17 wins and 9 losses).

 

Like many other teams over the last two weeks, Maccabi paid their own tribute to the hostages, in particular Shiri, Ariel and Kfir Bibas (whose bodies were returned to Israel last week and who were buried on Thursday after their cruel murder at the hands of Hamas), with the players wearing orange and black patches on their jerseys and a 45-meter orange and black banner draped across the stands.

Maccabi came out of the gates strongly in the first frame, with Jimmy Clark III impressing in his first EuroLeague minutes with 3 points and 3 assists and Roman Sorkin with 8 points and 2 rebounds, helping Maccabi to a 25-21 lead after 10 minutes. While the teams traded buckets for most of the second quarter, Fenerbahçe enjoyed a 10-0 run in the last two minutes to give the visitors a 46-41 lead going into the main break, with ex-Maccabi stars, forward Bonzie Colson and guard Wade Baldwin III, adding 10 and 9 points respectively up to halftime.

 

While the third quarter has been challenging for Maccabi this season, the Yellow & Blue continued their strong second half form which saw them defeat Jerusalem to win the State Cup earlier this month, with early points to Clark, Jasiel Rivero and Levi Randolph seeing them steal the lead back from Fenerbahçe a few minutes into the second half. The teams then continued to trade points, but 6 points from Sorkin and 7 points from young star Omer Mayer in the latter half of the period helped Maccabi win the third quarter 31-17 and take a commanding 72-63 lead into the final term.

Maccabi captain John DiBartolomeo started the last quarter with a three-pointer to push the lead out to double-digits. Although Fenerbahçe tried to stay with the home team, they only managed 13 points for the quarter to Maccabi’s 22, with Randolph and Sorkin adding 8 and 5 points respectively for the frame to give Maccabi a convincing 18-point victory.

Sorkin (21 points, 5 rebounds, 2 assists and 1 block), Rivero (18 points, 1 rebound and 1 assist), Randolph (16 points, 1 rebound, 1 assist and 2 steals) and DiBartolomeo (13 points, 8 rebounds and 1 assist) led the way for Maccabi, while Baldwin (12 points, 2 rebounds, 2 assists and 1 steal), Nigel Hayes-Davis (12 points, 6 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals and 1 block) and Colson (11 points, 7 rebounds, 2 assists, 3 steals and 1 block) were in double-figures for Fenerbahçe.

“We were not expecting this,” Maccabi coach Oded Katash said after the game. “Coming into this game without our main two point guards [Tamir Blatt and Rokas Jokubaitis ] and without Jaylen [Hoard, Maccabi’s superstar big] and Rafi Menco [Israeli forward], who stayed home with injury, we missed a lot of players and we did not come with big expectations, but I’m really proud of the way we played. A lot of players stepped up. Right from the beginning, we played the right way, including Jimmy [Clark], who just joined us four-five days ago. So that’s a big win for us in in the end. We wanted the rebounds, we wanted some of the fifty-fifty balls. We did better on the second half, and that’s a great win for us.”

 

“Congratulations to Oded, congratulations to Maccabi,” Fenerbahçe coach and ex-Maccabi star Šarūnas Jasikevičius said after the game. “I thought that we didn’t come with the right mentality in the game from the beginning. Maccabi was taking fifty-fifty balls, jumping all over our heads. When we tried to play a little bit better in the second quarter we were able to get a lead, but in the third quarter we came out with a very bad mentality. We gave up 31 points, I tried to put the players on the court without foul trouble at the beginning and didn’t succeed. It was a very bad evening for us and we need to get back to what got us good at this point.”

 

While the focus was the basketball, it’s hard for anyone at Maccabi to avoid everything that’s happening off the court and back home. Coach and players spoke to the significance of wearing the orange and black patches and the display of the orange and black banner.

 

“It’s the least that we could do, it’s a huge honor to pay respects to the people in Israel, the families who have experienced this,” Katash said. “From this point, we have had a few emotional weeks. Hostages who returned, then remains of hostages, something that is very emotional. I really hope that after suffering the 7^th of October, I hope that we keep this unity which we have experienced in the last few days, because keeping our solidarity is the only way to win.”

 

“Obviously it was really important for us to have it, ” captain DiBartolomeo said. “What the ribbon signifies, with the hostages and obviously the Bibas family, the symbol they’ve become throughout this war, of the innocence that was taken on October 7, of the patches and banner which were on display during the game. So it was really important for us to have that today. Things have progressed, we’ve gotten more people home, but we wait for the rest.”

“I’m happy that we had a win here,” Sorkin said. “I think that today the win is important, but more important is our dear Bibas family, our hearts are with them, we played with the orange patches. It’s important to remember to be with them at these times – embracing them, support, everything that they need. It’s incomprehensible. If we’re able to bring them just a little smile, we played with the patches, that’s everything.”

 

As for the game itself, in addition to their own leading performances, DiBartolomeo and Sorkin gave praise to Clark (7 points, 6 rebounds, 10 assists and 1 block) and Mayer (7 points, 2 rebounds and 6 assists) for playing their key parts in the win in the absence the team’s leading point guards.

 

“It was tough playing without so many key guys,” DiBartolomeo said. “I’m really proud of how everyone stepped up, everyone was ready to play, everyone was ready to give extra. I think our energy and our aggressiveness on both ends really made up for our lack of creatives tonight. I’m just proud that we were able to beat a very good team.

 

“Jimmy I thought was great tonight jumping in,” DiBartolomeo continued. “He’s only had a couple of days practice and this was a EuroLeague game against one of the best teams in the league is not easy. I thought he controlled the game veery well when he was out there. Omer stepped up great. We see him all the time, putting in the work. I was happy that he was given the opportunity and tonight he really took advantage. He came out aggressive, he was talking, he wasn’t afraid of the moment and the sky’s the limit for him.”

 

“We played better on defense,” Sorkin continued. “In the first half we gave up 46 points. I don’t know how many we gave up in the second half, but I’m sur that it was less. We played our game. We have new players – Omer and Jimmy. Not that Omer is new, but he hasn’t played meaningful minutes before. No one is happier than me to see him succeed. It’s not easy to lead the team. We’re happy, it’s a win, we need to look forward. We’ve had a good period recently, so we want to continue with this momentum in the League and what remains in the EuroLeague, it hasn’t finished and we still have work to do.”

Maccabi now returns to Israel to prepare for an Israeli League derby matchup against Hapoel Tel Aviv, Maccabi’s first League away fixture at Yad Eliyahu, on Sunday (21:05 IST / 14:05 EST).