Maccabi Tel Aviv dug deep to pull out a 69-63 win over Milano at Yad Eliyahu. Both teams played tough defense in an a intense battle throughout 40 minutes that saw very little scoring inside the paint as shots didn’t fall early. But Scottie Wilbekin from the outside and Othello Hunter on the inside were able to break the game open during the second half to take the Yellow & Blue to the win as Coach Ioannis Sfairopoulos’s squad moved to 10-0 at home and 14-6 overall in Euroleague play.

Scottie Wilbekin scored 22 points, Othello Hunter added 14 points, 14 rebounds and drew 11 fouls while Tyler Dorsey chipped in with 13 points in the win for Maccabi. Keifer Sykes scored 11 points and Nemanja Nedovic scored 10 points in the defeat.

Nemanja Nedovic hit a pair of 3-pointers while Kaleb Tarczewski scored as well early on for Milano as Scottie Wilbekin scored four points for Maccabi but the visitors took an early 12-8 lead midway through the first quarter. Vladimir Micov and Amedeo Della Valle each scored points just as the shot clock expired for Ettore Messina’s squad while Sergio Rodriguez scored points as well to give Milano a 21-15 advantage after ten minutes.

Della Valle drilled a triple but Tyler Dorsey scored one as well for Ioannis Sfairopoulos’s squad as Maccabi pulled to within 25-23 of Milano with 5:40 left in the second quarter. Aaron Jackson dropped a layup as did Deni Avdija while Quincy Acy scored from deep to cut the Milano lead to 32-31 at halftime.

Wilbekin began the second half with a triple and one while Othello Hunter slammed the ball home for Maccabi’s first lead of the game 37-34 early on in the third quarter. Wilbekin scored from beyond the arc and Nate Wolters put in a layup as the Yellow & Blue opened up a 42-36 lead midway through the frame. Keifer Sykes and Michael Roll closed the gap by the end of the frame to 52-48 after thirty minutes of action.

Roll and Wilbekin traded triples to begin the fourth quarter and #1 hit another from beyond the arc as Hunter scored a pair of free throws to increase the Maccabi lead to 60-51 with 7 minutes left in regulation time. But just one minute later, Rodriguez and Sykes each found the bottom of the basket from 3-point range to quickly drop the advantage to four points, 61-57. Dorsey, Hunter and Wilbekin all scored to put the finishing touches on a tough 69-63 victory.