Maccabi Tel Aviv defeated ASVEL Villeurbanne 89-85 thanks to a huge second half comeback paced by Tamir Blatt and Roman Sorkin to wipe out a 14-point deficit at half-time to keep the yellow-and-blue’s chances for a postseason spot in the Play In alive. The victory moved Maccabi’s record to 15-16 good for 13th place but are still three wins out of 10th place which is the final Play In place. This going week, Oded Katash’s squad will host Fenerbahce and Dubai at their home away from home in Belgrade, Serbia in what will be crucial clashes for Maccabi’s playoff bid.

ASVEL were red hot from deep over the course of the first half going 8/18 while Maccabi were ice cold shooting a miserable 1/14 from downtown during the opening twenty minutes that saw the French side led by Glynn Watson and Paul Eboua take a 52-38 advantage into halftime. However, Sorkin along with John Dibartolomeo and Jimmy Clark helped the yellow-and-blue to a 23-10 third quarter to cut the lead down to 62-61 after thirty minutes while Blatt worked his magic by swishing from beyond the arc and dishing to the open men including Sorkin who dunked one time after the next to secure the win.

Blatt scored 14 points and dished out 13 assists, Sorkin scored 23 points, Clark put in14 points while Bartolomeo added 13 points in the win. Eboua scored 19 points, Watson put in 17 points and David Lighty chipped in with 14 points in the loss.

“We started well but the last 15 minutes of the first half we lost our structure and the body language,” Maccabi Tel Aviv Head Coach Oded Katash began. “We were confused but we have a lot of excuses for that with things happening in the last two or three weeks. I have to give credit to the players as they reacted well after the halftime talk. I am very proud of how we did it.”

Tamir Blatt, who not only earned MVP honors in the game but also for the Euroleague matchday spoke about the key victory, “ASVEL played great in the first half so we talked in the locker room at halftime, knowing that we had to be more aggressive and play defense. Our team is going through a lot as we are not in our country and it’s tough, but we just want to get as many wins as we can to fight for a spot in the play-in.”

Roman Sorkin also reflected on the win, “We started slow but got back into our groove and showed character in the second half as everybody stepped up. We played hard and won the game but a shout out to ASVEL, they are a good team. It could have gone either way but I am happy we got the win. We are still in the race and we will do our best to produce something special.”