Maccabi Tel Aviv fell dramatically to Olympiacos 89-87 in overtime as the Greek squad defeated the yellow-and-blue for the second time this campaign. In a hard fought battle over 45 minutes, Georgios Bartzokas’s team showed poise in the closing minutes of the game as Kostas Sloukas and Giannoulis Larentzakis hit their free throws to cancel out Scottie Wilbekin’s 25 points to take the victory.

The defeat drops Maccabi’s record to 8-11 on the season as they will look to get back onto the winning track against Baskonia when they face Dusko Ivanovic’s club on Thursday.

Wilbekin may have led Ioannis Sfairopoulos’s side in points but his 8 turnovers set a Maccabi record. Elijah Bryant scored 15 points, Ante Zizic added 12 points and Othello Hunter who returned from injury recorded a double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds. Sloukas was the high scorer for Olympiacos with 21 points to go along with 11 assist, Larentzakis added 13 points and Georgios Printezis chipped in with 12 points in the win.

Elijah Bryant opened the scoring for Maccabi Tel Aviv, Ante Zizic added a 3-point play and Scottie Wilbekin drilled home a triple early on in the first quarter as the hosts took an 8-4 lead midway through the frame. Georgios Printezis put in a trio of baskets, Wilbekin hit a floater in the lane and then fed Angelo Caloiaro off a steal but Vasilis Charalampopoulos scored a pair of buckets to keep Olympiacos close down 18-13 after ten minutes action.

Bryant scored an uncontested layup and a bucket from deep while Oz Blayzer and Zizic added free throws as Shaquielle McKissic scored from the charity line for Georgios Bartzokas’s squad but the yellow-and-blue stayed in front 27-22 with 6:32 left in the second quarter. Chris Jones went from beyond the arc and Zizic took care of a Bryant pass for an easy basket but Octavius Ellis and Kostas Sloukas got their first points of the game. But Wilbekin dialed it up from long distance as did Tyler Dorsey to give Ioannis Sfairopoulos’s team a 40-33 advantage at halftime.

Ellis with a basket, Livio Jean-Charles with points and Sloukas with a triple helped Olympiacos knot up the score at 40-40, but Zizic and Othello Hunter scored in the paint to give Maccabi a 48-42 lead midway through third quarter. Free throws from McKissic, and a 3-pointer from Sloukas gave the visitors a short lived lead as Bryant with a floater, Dorsey with points and Jones with a runner kept Maccabi ahead 55-52 after thirty minutes of play.

Giannoulis Larentzakis, Hassan Martin and Sloukas all scored to send Olympiacos on a 6-0 run to begin the third quarter but Bryant broke the streak with points in the paint, Wilbekin added free throws and Jones nailed a jumper to keep Maccabi in the lead 61-60 with five minutes left in the fourth quarter. Sloukas fed Jean-Charles for an easy basket, Sasha Vezenkov found his first points of the game from outside, Wilbekin hit a triple and both sides hit their free throws to send the game into overtime all tied up at 73-73.

Caloiaro began the extra period with an off balance jumper, Printezis answered immediately from downtown but Jones and Hunter put in points. Larentzakis drilled in a 3-pointer as did a wide open Vezenkov from the corner, but Hunter answered with free throws and a dunk to pull Maccabi to within one-point 86-85 with 19.9 seconds left on the clock. Larentzakis scored his free throws but Wilbekin only made 2 of 3 as the yellow-and-blue fell dramatically 89-87 to Olympiacos for the second time this season.