Maccabi Tel Aviv were crushed by Zalgiris 78-63 in a game that they were never in from the get go as their Euroleague record dropped to 2-3 on the season with a Double Week coming up against Fenerbahce and Real Madrid. The Lithuanian squad jumped out to a 12-0 lead in the opening minutes and never looked back to take the easy win.

Saben Lee scored 17 points, Jasiel Rivero added 12 points and Levi Randolph scored 11 points in the loss. Edgaras Ulanovas scored 14 points, Dovydas Giedraitis chipped in with 13 points while Bryant Dunston scored 8 points in the win.

“The chances were against us,” Maccabi Tel Aviv Head Coach said. “Coming into this game it wasn’t going to be pretty as we were missing key players, but I am really happy how we came out in the second half with good body language. We kept fighting and I am proud of the guys as that is what we have to give right now.”

“It was a tricky game against a team that is going through many adversaries,” Zalgiris Head Coach Andrea Trinchieri began. “They have antibodies and resilience. We had to play an excellent first half on both sides of the ball. The first quarter was wow, but Maccabi has values. We deserved to win the game and we took advantage that they missed players and we played with a standard rotation, we were good and we controlled the boards. Another win and a good moment.”

Jasiel Rivero reflected on the loss, “This was a very difficult game. We started very poorly, things didn’t go our way at first. In the second half we tried to make a comeback, but it was too much. We fought until the end and things didn’t work out for us. Let’s hope that in the next game it will be much better. The bright spot is that we fought until the end, we continued to fight for every ball.”

Bryant Dunston spoke about the win, “It was a good win for us and we controlled the game the whole time. We wanted to control the game at home, but no one in the Euroleague gives up as they came back. It was a team effort. We need to keep building and getting better.”

Ignas Brazdeikis went from deep, Matthew Mitchell added a deuce and Bryant Dunston scored in the paint as did Dovydas Giedraitis but Jaylen Hoard scored from the outside and Saben Lee on the inside for Maccabi Tel Aviv however, the hosts with a triple by Edgaras Ulanovas took a 15-5 lead midway through the first quarter. Jasiel Rivero scored his first points of the game, Giedraitis scored at will, Laurynis Birutis scored as well to give Andrea Trinchieri’s team a 26-7 lead after ten minutes of play.

Deividas Sirvydis and Sylvain Francisco began the second quarter from downtown, Rivero put in a 3-point play, Lee scored as well, Rafi Menco and and Ulanovas traded triples and Roman Sorkin scored but Zalgiris held a comfortable 38-17 lead with 5:11 left in the first half. Hoard ad Brazdeikis hit 3-pointers and Dunston scored inside to give the hosts a 44-24 advantage at halftime.

Birutis and Levi Randolph traded baskets to get the third quarter underway, Giedraitis went from deep, Mitchell put in a 3-point play as did Sorkin while Lee, Randolph went from beyond the arc as did Omer Mayer to head into the final frame down 59-46.

Randolph scored to open the fourth quarter, Alen Smailagic put in points, Rivero came back with a pair of baskets, Ulanovas countered, Lee responded but Dunston dropped a floater to keep the hosts ahead 69-57 with five minutes left in regulation time. Lee kept scoring, Ulanovas and Giedraitis both went from deep to wrap up the win.