Maccabi Tel Aviv dropped Baskonia 89-81 to win their second game in a row to move their Euroleague record to 9-6 with a date against Red Star Belgrade on tap for Thursday as the yellow-and-blue will look to sweep the double week. Five players featured in double figures while the hosts grabbed 50 rebounds including 16 on the offensive boards and dished out 27 assists in the win.

Playing at their home away from home in Belgrade, Oded Katash’s squad got off to a terrific start as Josh Nebo dominated the paint and James Webb was lethal from the outside, but Dusko Ivanovic’s team led by Markus Howard, Vanja Marinkovic and Tadas Sedekerskis grabbed a slim 49-47 lead at halftime. Roman Sorkin got busy in the third quieter while Webb and Nebo continued to score as Maccabi took the victory.

In a game that both Lorenzo Brown and Wade Baldwin struggled going a combined 4/24, Nebo led the way with 17 points and 11 rebounds, Webb added 17 points as well while Sorkin chipped in with 14 points in the win. Howard scored 19 points, Marinkovic put in 16 points and Sedekerskis scored 15 points in the loss.

“No easy games in the Euroleague,” Maccabi head coach Oded Katash said after the contest. “Especially against a dangerous team like Baskonia but we spoke at halftime and said that the game plan had worked pretty well and there were a some small details to focus on and we controlled them in the second half with our defense. I liked the guys effort. Even though we gave up almost 50 points the game plan was ok and we had to relax a little bit, believe in ourselves and our game plan and that’s what we did.”

“It was a close game and we had the possibility to win,” Baskonia bench boss Dusko Ivanovic explained. “But Maccabi killed us on the offensive rebounds and we didn’t have a clear offensive option over the last few minutes.”

James Webb reflected on the game and what spurred Maccabi to the victory, “In the second half we came out and turned up our defense and intensity, they still hit a couple of shots but we rebounded well and at the end we gutted it out and got stops. We knew we had to pick up the energy and they are a high scoring and a very fast paced team so we had to match their intensity.”

Josh Nebo also spoke about the keys to the win while also looking ahead to Thursday’s game against Red Star, “I don’t think we did anything perfect but in the second half we did a better job defensively and did a better job paying attention to the game plan and the scouting report and that gave us the advantage in the second half. We have to get our rest and sleep, practice, prepare and get mentally ready for the next game.”

Red Star Belgrade will come into the game after having lost to Real Madrid 72-58 in Serbia and sport a 5-10 record under Maccabi Tel Aviv’s former head coach Ioannis Sfairopoulos who took over from Dusko Ivanovic following his 1-3 start. While the Serbian side has struggled they still feature a number of dangerous weapons including Milos Teodosic, Nemanja Nedovic and Luka Mitrovic who can always cause damage to a team like the yellow-and-blue should they take their opponents lightly.

Maccabi out their mark on the game early on as Josh Nebo from inside, Lorenzo Brown with the mid-range and Bonzie Colson from deep got the yellow-and-blue on the board while Tadas Sedekerskis and Codi Miller-Mcintyre responded for Baskonia but he hosts held an 11-7 lead midway through the first quarter. Wade Baldwin went from deep, Vanja Marinkovic answered right back while Markus Howard also dialed up for a pair from long distance, Roman Sorkin and Maik Kotsar traded baskets and James Webb dunked as the teams were all knotted up at 22-22 after ten minutes of play.

Tamir Blatt opened up the second quarter from downtown as did Antonius Cleveland and a red hot Webb scored in bundles from the inside and outside to take a 39-30 lead with 5:54 left in the first half. Colson put down a Brown assist for an alley-oop, Howard hit back-to-back triples, Nebo scored a pair inside, Marinkovic scored a 3-point play off in transition and then went from deep while Sedekerskis scored as well to give Dusko Ivanovic’s team a stunning 49-47 advantage at halftime.

Marinkovic kept scoring at will as he went from beyond the arc to begin the third quarter, Colson and Baldwin came back with points but Miller-McIntyre and Sedekerskis scored to keep the visitors in front 57-54 midway through the period. Sorkin and Blatt drained 3-pointers for Oded Katash’s squad, Howard came right back with one of his own but Sorkin put in a rebound to give Maccabi a 68-67 lead after thirty minutes of action.

Chima Moneke and Sorkin traded baskets, Webb dialed up long distance, Moneke scored a 3-point play, Blatt put in a deuce but Miller-McIntyre scored to keep Baskonia within a single point, 77-76 with 5:08 left in regulation time. Jasiel Rivero scored his first field goal of the game, Nebo put in a rebound, Colson cut to the hoop for two and Nebo dunked to wrap up the victory.