Maccabi Tel Aviv came up short 98-86 to Olimpia Milano as Nikola Mirotic broke the game open in the second quarter to give the hosts the victory. The yellow-and-blue’s record dropped to 3-8 after having lost their fourth Euroleague game in a row.

Jaylen Hoard began the first quarter with points a plenty but Nikola Mirotic matched him and the some in the second quarter while Armani Brooks and Zach LeDay also scored at will to take a 50-43 advantage into halftime. Brooks and LeDay continued to bump the lead up as Marial Shayok tried to keep the yellow-and-blue close, however, Fabien Causeur and Nico Mannion closed out the win.

Hoard scored 20 points, Randolph added 14 points and Randolph with 13 points in the loss. LaDay scored 22 points, Nikola Mirotic chipped in with 20 points and Brooks scored 16 points in the loss.

“They played extremely well and shot the ball like crazy for the game,” Maccabi Head Coach Oded Katash said. “We knew LeDay and Mirotic would punish us a lot and it would otherwise not be easy. They hit big shots, some of that was our miscommunication, we have newcomers to the team and we are missing practices. We stayed here and fought and I have to give credit to the players who have fought in the last 4-5 games in the Euroleague. We have a short break and I hope we can have a few practices and come out of it better as a team.”

Katash also spoke about why Saben Lee didn’t play, “Saben is different and its’ a crazy situation as he’s not with us on a daily basis and it’s hard to manage that. I have zero blame for him. He signed with us knowing that he would not come to Tel Aviv. We thought he would change his mind. I have zero blame for him and it’s the coach’s decision not to play him. I have nothing to say against him and it’s our decision.”

“We played a good game,” Milano Head Coach Ettore Messina began. “They sacrificed and we beat a very good team that can beat you one on one, it was not an easy win. It’s important the team is improving game by game. We defended very well in the fourth quarter and the standard has to be how we defended in the second and fourth quarters. We have to continue to work.”

Marial Shayok who made his Maccabi debut looked back on the game that was, “It was a hard fought loss, we stuck together throughout the whole game, came back and cut it close but it wasn’t enough, a lot to learn from being together longer and improving each day.”

David DeJulius spoke about the loss, “We didn’t do a good job putting 40 minutes together. We have a good break coming up which will let our body and mind heal and come back better. This is like a mirror of the last few games, we have to get a couple of practices under our belt, sharpen up on both ends of teh court. We can;t get discouraged.”

Jaylen Hoard got busy early with a trio of baskets for Maccabi Tel Aviv, Rokas Jokubaitis drained a corner 3-ball, Nikola Mirotic went from deep for Milano following a timeout but the yellow-and-blue held a 10-7 lead midway through the first quarter. Zach LeDay and Levi Randolph traded triples, Shavon Shields cruised to the hoop as did Armani Brooks, Randolph and Hoard responded with points, Neno Dimitrijevic scored a pair of baskets but Marial Shayok drilled one from downtown and added a long deuce to give Oded Katash’s team a 22-20 lead after ten minutes of play.

Fabien Causeur and Dimitrijevic began the second quarter with points, Roman Sorkin dialed up from long distance, Mirotic scored from under the basket and Causeur fourd the bucket again to tie the game up at 30-30 with six minutes left in the first half. Wenyen Gabriel scored as did Shields at the other end, Mirotic hit a pair from deep, John Dibartolomeo and Nico Mannion each scored from beyond the arc, Sorkin put in a 3-point play but Brooks and Leday drilled home corner 3-balls to give Ettore Messina’s squad a 50-43 advantage at halftime.

Brooks went from the inside and outside to get the third quarter off and running, Randolph ad Hoard answered, Brooks came back from deep, Mannion scored inside, Hoard tried to keep Maccabi close but more points from LeDay gave the hosts a 68-54 lead midway through the period. Jokubaitis and Sorkin scored after Milano sent a parade of players to the line, Shayok and LeDay traded baskets, but another basket by Shayok pulled Maccabi to within 9-points, 79-70 after thirty minutes of action.

Dibartolomeo led off the fourth quarter from downtown, Causeur floated in with a basket, David DeJulius dropped a deuce, Randolph hit a high arcing bucket while LeDay scored off a break as Milano held onto a 83-77 lead with five minutes remaining in regulation time. Hoard scored inside but LeDay went from the outside, Mannion scored, Sorkin countered, but more points Mirotic and Causer close out the victory.