Maccabi Tel Aviv defeated Anadolu EFES 95-86 to get back in the win column in Euroleague play as they moved there record to 8-6 as they now ready for a double week with games against Baskonia and Red Star Belgrade on deck.

The yellow-and-blue took the bull by the horns early and opened up a comfortable lead in the first quarter thanks to solid play from big man Josh Nebo and Tamir Blatt, but EFES came right back as Shane Larkin starred in the second period to grab a 48-45 lead heading into halftime. Brown and Blatt then got to work for Oded Katash’s squad along with an active Bonzie Colson and James Webb to hold off Larkin, Mike Daum and Darius Thompson to take the victory.

Brown scored 21 points, Colson added 19 points, Webb checked in with 14 points and Blatt scored 12 points in the win. Thompson scored 22 points, Daum chipped in with 20 points and Larkin added 17 points in the loss.

“Big win for us and I think in the end it was our effort in the second half,” Maccabi coach Oded Katash said. “We fought hard and adapted. We changed some things on defense and I liked how the team responded. it’s all about defense.”

“My players fought to the end with a short rotation,” EFES coach Erdem Cam said. “The way they spent energy on the court, we made some obvious mistakes and lost the game at the end of the day.”

The game MVP Lorenzo Brown looked back at the win, “It was a lot of grit defensive stops and we focussed our attention on Shane Larkin and sent two guys at him. Plus we scored on offense to get the win. We needed this win for our sanity, this was a great team win and we are looking forward to the next one.”

Josh Nebo got busy early on for Maccabi Tel Aviv with three straight baskets including a monster put-back dunk, Shane Larkin nailed a 3-pointer over an outstretched Jake Cohen whole Darius Thompson went from deep as well for Anadolu EFES but a Bonzie Colson triple gave the hosts a 11-8 lead midway through the first quarter. Tamir Blatt fed James Webb on the break for a dunk and then added a 3-pointer, Justus Hollatz dialed up a corner 3 while Colson did the same at the other end and then Gazi and Blatt traded triples as well but points by Baldwin gave the yellow-and-blue a 29-20 lead after ten minutes of play.

Tyrique Jones opened the second quarter with a huge dunk off a steal, Mike Daum also scored off a turnover as Larkin drained another one from downtown to cut they lead to a single point, but Antonius Cleveland and Lorenzo Brown scored their first points of the game to give Oded Katash’s squad a 36-30 lead with five minutes remaining in the half. Larkin once again went from beyond the arc, Brown matched him and then hit a jumper, Thompson and Larkin drilled home 3-pointers and Uturu dunked to put Erden Cam’s team in front 48-45 at halftime.

Brown began the third quarter with two from deep and added a jumper to thrust Maccabi back in front 55-53 midway through the period. Thompson, Daum and Uturu did the damage, Webb drained a 3-pointer and Sorkin’s last gasp bucket gave the hosts a 66-64 lead after thirty minutes of action.

Blatt went from deep to get the fourth quarter underway, Cleveland dunked off a steal, Blatt dialed up long distance yet again, Larkin went in for a layup high off the glass, Blatt went from deep yet again as did Webb to take a 81-71 lead with 6:05 remaining in regulation time. Larkin stole the ball and raced in for an easy deuce, Brown responded, Thompson came back with points, Webb went from downtown, Daum dunked, Brown and Colson scored inside to wrap up the win.