Maccabi Tel Aviv defeated Bayern Munich 93-90 as Bonzie Colson and Lorenzo Brown both scored timely buckets to lead the team to the victory. Head Coach Oded Katash’s squad had to work hard to stay in front of Pablo Laso’s pesky team as five players ended in double digits to help Maccabi to their second win in a row to move their Euroleague record to 4-2 on the young season.

The yellow-and-blue had Wade Baldwin back in action as the guard made his seasons debut after suffering back injury during the preseason as his presence added more depth in backcourt which they will need with a double week coming up with games against Olympiacos and Fenerbahce on the schedule.

Bonzie Colson led the way with 19 points, Brown added 13 points and 7 assists, as Wade Baldwin and Jasiel Rivero each scored 12 points and Tamir Blatt chipped in with 11 points in the win. Carson Edwards paced the visitors with 17 points, Serge Ibaka added 16 points and Leandro Bolmaro scored 12 points in the loss.

“I’m very happy about the win,” Maccabi head coach Oded Katash began. “it’s not easy to play with no crowd. We had to find the energy somewhere and in the second half we played with a better sense of urgency and we had our run. We played against a talented team with a good scorer. I am very happy that we found a way to win even though it wasn’t our best performance.”

Congrats to Maccabi for the victory,” Bayern Head Coach Pablo Laso began. “We had a solid game offensively and defensively but if you turn the ball over 23 times it’s very hard to win the game. We played very well on defense, but give credit to Maccabi and it was a tough game for us. We knew we had to match up with their physicality and we had turnovers in important moments which was key. It’s hard to say I am happy with our performance when we lose but it’s very hard to stay in the game with 23 turnovers.”

Bonzie Colson who picked up the MVP honors spoke about the win and how the team misses the fans, “Just playing our game moving the ball, rebounding, getting back in transition, move the ball offensively, hit big shots and it was good to have Wade [Baldwin] back. We got to keep it up. It’s great having a home court, obviously we miss Tel Aviv and playing in front of our fans, their the best fans in the Euroleague, we definitely miss them but it’s good to be able to play the game we all love.”

Isaac Bonga, Serge Ibaka and Andreas Obst all got on the scoresheet early ing to help Bayern Munich to a 9-6 lead midway through the first quarter. Jake Cohen countered from the inside and outside for Maccabi Tel Aviv, Lorenzo Brown put in a reverse layup, Nick Weiler-Babb and James Webb traded triples but a Leandro Bolmaro deuce gave the visitors a 19-17 lead after ten minutes of play.

Carson Edwards drained a pair of 3-pointers to open the second quarter, Tamir Blatt came back with one of his own and then thread the needle with a nice bounce pass for a Jasiel Rivero dunk while Blatt and Bonzie Colson both went from deep to tie the game up at 30-30 with five minutes remaining in the first half.

Sylvain Francisco and Bonga dialed up long distance, Josh Nebo scored in the paint, Blatt and Webb went from downtown yet again, Colson scored 7 points in a row to give Oded Katash’s team an 8-point lead, however, Weiler-Babb, Ibaka and Francisco all scored to cut the Maccabi advantage to 46-44 at halftime.

Webb from two and Brown from three helped the yellow-and-blue off to a solid start in the third quarter, Colson nailed a corner 3-ball to give Maccabi a 55-49 lead. Baldwin dunked and added a deuce, Bolmaro and Ibaka tried to keep Pablo Laso’s squad close, Nebo and Edwards traded baskets, Rivero and Antonius Cleveland as did Roman Sorkin at the end of the frame to take a 71-63 lead after thirty minutes of action.

Edwards, Devin Booker, Francisco all scored to pull to within just 4-points to begin the fourth quarter, but Colson quickly answered from the inside and outside and added free throws to keep Maccabi ahead 80-74 with 5:52 remaining in regulation time. Baldwin hit a 3-pointer but Ibaka and Bolmaro scored inside time and time again in the paint, but Brown scored to stop the Bayern rally and help Maccabi to the win.