Maccabi Electra trashed Asseco Prokom 99-58

Maccabi Electra remained tied for first place in Group A as it cruised to the halfway point of the Turkish Airlines Euroleague regular season with a 99-58 blowout of Asseco Prokom Gdynia on Thursday at Nokia Arena in Tel Aviv. After Prokom started with a 1-7 lead, Maccabi took over and never looked back. The game was essentially decided with a 19-0 run that bridged the second and third quarters to put Maccabi up 60-31. Maccabi improved to 4-1, keeping even with Zalgiris for first in the group. The hosts made 15 of 32 triples and outrebounded Prokom 42-29. Chuck Eidson led Maccabi with 20 points and 5 steals, Guy Pnini and Doron Perkins netted 13 apiece, Jeremy Pargo scored 12 and dished 6 assists and Tal Burstein followed with 11. Maccabi remains home next week against Caja Laboral, the only team it has lost to this season. J.R. Giddens and Dan Ewing scored 14 each for Prokom and Ratko Varda and Bobby Brown added 10 apiece. Prokom hosts BC Khimki in Week 6.

Ewing got the visitors going with a pull-up three-pointer and Jan Jagla added a tip-in before Perkins got the hosts on the board from the line. In the meantime, Sofoklis Schortsanitis drew a pair of fouls from Adam Lapeta and blocked his shot at the other end, prompting Prokom head coach Tomas Pacesas to call on Varda instead. Varda got through the lane for a layup over Big Sofo for a 1-7 lead, but Maccabi soon found its feet and Perkins fed Lior Eliyahu for a slam. Varda connected from downtown, only to see Pargo do the same. Eidson knotted the score with a three from the elbow, but Varda found a cutting Piotr Szczotka for a backdoor layup. With Perkins and Pargo wreaking havoc in the passing lanes, Maccabi continued to attack and Eidson’s second three gave Maccabi a 15-12 lead. A Prokom timeout did not stall the home side as Perkins nailed a three. Brown sank free throws for Prokom, but Burstein did the same and a Pargo three put Tel Aviv up 8. Brown got 3 the hard way, but Pnini sank a triple and Pargo came up with a steal and found Burstein for a layup to make it 29-19 after 10 minutes.

Giddens and Varda scored as Prokom tried to work its way back, but Pnini from downtown and Schortsanitis up close kept Maccabi in control. Varda hit a long jumper, but fouled Big Sofo at the other end and let his frustration out by slamming the ball. Schortsanitis missed twice from the line, but soon converted on a pick-and-roll with Perkins. The Maccabi guard then upped the lead to 41-26 with a three. Ewing also tripled and Adam Hrycaniuk cut the deficit to 10 from the line, however Pargo continued Maccabi’s blistering three-point shooting and Eliyahu spun around for a layup to keep the hosts in total control. Eidson drew another foul and got to the line for 2 more to put Maccabi on top 48-31 at halftime.

Maccabi looked to put the game early in the second half as Eidson found David Blu for a basket and Perkins drained a three. Prokom used a timeout, but still his troops failed to find the basket and instead Eidson dunked on the break. Eidson drove on the baseline for a pretty slam and Pargo weaved through the Prokom defense for a layup as the run reached 19 straight dating back to the second quarter and made it 60-31. Giddens stopped the bleeding with a triple and the perimeter trio of Ewing, Brown and Giddens all scored again, but that only cut the deficit to 62-40. Yaniv Green came off the bench and scored twice to keep the lead in the 20s. Brown’s free throws were answered by Burstein and Pnini as the third quarter ended 70-47.

Any doubts about the outcome were quickly put to rest as Eidson and Pnini hit back-to-back threes and Eidson took a steal for a slam and Maccabi’s biggest lead yet. Burstein’s jumper and Pnini’s correction of a rare Eidson miss made it a 12-0 run. Giddens got Prokom’s first point of the period from the line, but Maccabi continued to pour it on. Perkins nailed a three and Richard Hendrix got on the scoreboard with a hook taking the lead to 39 points. Giddens supplied another basket for the visitors and then Ewing scored twice, but the result was clear by now as the local fans enjoyed the final minutes of another home win.