Maccabi Tel Aviv thumped Partizan Belgrade 112-87 in an old-fashioned whooping in Serbia, to win their fifth straight Euroleague game and move their record to 8-10 with one more game left in the first round of play. Cam Payne who had just joined Partizan scored a dozen points in the opening quarter to help the hosts grab a 28-17 lead but, Maccabi quickly cut down the advantage and took a 58-43 lead into halftime. From there, Lonnie Walker and Roman Sorkin along with TJ Leaf scored at will to increase the advantage to 92-59 after thirty minutes as the yellow-and-blue cruised to the victory.

Walker scored 20 points, Sorkin added 17 points and Leaf put in 14 points in the win while Cam Payne scored 15 points and Sterling Brown scored 12 points in the loss.

“The return to playing in front of our fans really lifted us and it means so much to us,” Maccabi Tel Aviv Head Coach Oded Katash said. “Great win for us in a great atmosphere after a really bad start to the game. I really liked the attitude and the way we played together. We were more focused and aggressive after the opening 10 minutes and started to control the game. We are a more balanced team now and we know how to win games. We were struggling and had tough moments this year but the players never stopped supporting me.”

Roman Sorkin reflected on the win, “We knew we couldn’t give them a chance because they are going through a bad moment right now and they’re a really good team. We didn’t make a good start in the first quarter but we reacted well and showed great character. We’re getting better each week but we need to keep going, it was a big win for us and a perfect introduction to the new year.”

Lonnie Walker shared his thoughts, “I didn’t start off too well in the first half, specifically in the first quarter, but definitely picked it up as my teammates trusted me a lot. I keep saying this over and over again, we’ve got a lot of talent over here and we’re locking in during practice. Everyone is doing a great job individually and collectively as a team. Defensively we did a heck of a job and we played team basketball, the Maccabi way.”

Joan Penarroya spoke about his team’s loss, “We only played good basketball in the opening eight minutes. The team needs more practice. We need to improve, especially our energy, defense and character. It’s a moment to start doing basic things and stay together. Congratulations to Maccabi, they played very well, but the last 32 minutes of the game were really bad for us. We have to clear our heads and accept that we are in a bad situation, needing to improve step by step and game by game. It’s very difficult to be optimistic at the moment and what happens will depend on our mentality.”