Maccabi Tel Aviv eased by Valencia 95-80 to notch their 6th Euroleague win in a row and bump their record up to 19-13 putting them in the thick of the race for an automatic spot in the quarterfinals. The yellow-and-blue took a bit of time to warm up as Wade Baldwin and Jasiel Rivera traded baskets with Semi Ojeleye, Kassius Robertson and Damien Inglis, but Josh Nebo and James Webb made sure that Maccabi headed into halftime with a 48-38 advantage. Antonius Cleveland, Baldwin and Bonzie Colson along with Tamir Blatt and Rivero continued to bump up the lead while Nebo was dominant in the paint as Oded Katash’s said notched the victory.
Baldwin scored 17 points, Nebo added 15 points while Colson, Cleveland and Rivero all scored 10 points in the win. Ojeleye scored 15 points, Robertson added 13 points as Inglis chipped in with 12 points in the loss.

Oded Katash – Photo credit: Djorde Kostic
“This was a great team win for us and it came through our defense,” Katash said. “The first quarter we allowed some easy layups and they got more offensive rebounds than us and they shot the ball better than us but we slowed them down over the otter three quarters and I am very happy. 19 wins is a big achievement especially due to the circumstances. We still have two more to go and it’s going o be challenging. Barcelona and Milano which are big names.”
“We came to play a team that has won 15 games in a row,” Valencia coach Alex Mumbru said. “We started the game cold and Maccabi knew what they would find in the game. They scored a of points. In the second half we tried to get better and we pulled ion close but couldn’t control some key moments that decided the game.”

Wade Baldwin – Photo credir: Djorde Kostic
Wade Baldwin looked back at the victory, “We started the game well and we finished it well, executed ad did the things we needed to do, grabbed a lot of rebounds, It was another good game for us to pick up our 19th win. We got to win the next two games in order to make the top 6 and hope some teams lose on top. We’re doing what we need to and we have two more games which we would obviously like to finish with two wins.”
Josh Nebo also spoke abut the win, “The beginning of the game was a little bit back and forth as they had energy, but once we settled in, calmed down and got comfortable and started playing our game we were ready to pull away.”

Josh Nebo – Photo credit: Djorde Kostic
Wade Baldwin got busy early with a pair of baskets for Maccabi Tel Aviv, Justin Anderson and Damien Inglis answered for Valencia, Semi Ojeleye dunked, went from deep and hit a jumper, but a triple by Tamir Blatt and points by Jasiel Rivero gave the yellow-and-blue a 21-20 lead after ten minutes of play.
Antonius Cleveland and Bonzie Colson began to find the bottom of the bucket for the hosts, Kassius Robertson countered for the visitors, James Webb went from the inside and outside, Cleveland and Josh Nebo put down monster dunks and Lorenzo Brown nailed a jumper to send Oded Katash’s team into halftime with a 48-38 advantage.

Antonius Cleveland – Photo credit: Djorde Kostic
Baldwin and Colson scored to get the third quarter underway, Robertson, Inglis and Anderson came back with points for Alex Mumbru’s team to cut the lead down to single digits, but a Blatt 3-pointer as well as baskets by John Dibartolomeo from the inside and outside and Rivero sent Maccabi into the final frame with a 71-58 lead.
Victor Claver began the fourth quarter from deep, Robertson added a deuce, Jake Cohen came back with points and then fed Nebo who jammed, Baldwin went from downtown, Cleveland scored while Webb added a basket off a Joe Thomasson assist to polish off yet another Maccabi win.
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