Maccabi Haifa Bazan improved to 3-1 in difficult Group G by topping Banvit Bandirma 72-69 at home on Wednesday. Donta Smith paced the winners with 20 points - 10 of them in the final 4 minutes to lead Haifa to this win. Brian Randle added 18 on 9-of-12 two-point shots and 7 rebounds for the hosts. E.J. Rowland led Banvit with 16 points. Chuck Davis added 11 for the guests, which dropped to 2-2. Banvit used a strong start to keep a 17-18 edge after 10 minutes. Haifa got a 31-24 edge soon after that and led 37-35 at the break. An 0-11 run that Sammy Mejia capped with a layup gave Banvit a 51-58 edge late in the third quarter. Haifa tied it at 62-62 and Rowland put Banvit back ahead, 62-66. Haifa found a go-to guy in Smith, who scored 10 unanswered points - including two slams off respective steals - and allowed the hosts to celebrate what could be a critical win.

Randle got Haifa going with a dunk but Mejia, Rowland and Drew Gordon soon gave Banvit a 4-12 lead. Randle scored again and Moran Roth added free throws but Gordon and a jumper by Ermal Kuqo made it a five-point game, 11-16. Randle lept pacing Haifa with back-to-back baskets and matched Klemen Prepelic's layup with a jumper for a 17-18 score after 10 minutes. Back-to-back triples by Ben Reis and Roth gave Haifa the lead, 23-20, early in the second quarter. Randle got help from Ike Ofoegbu and Dagan Yvizory to force Banvit to call timeout at 31-24. Davis and Kuqo rescued Banvit and three-pointers by Rowland and Mejia tied it at 35-35. A jumper by Ido Kozikaro fixed the halftime score at 37-35. Haifa stayed on fire after the break, as a triple by Roth and a dunk by Randle made Banvit call timeout at 46-41. Cehver Ozer and Prepelic rescued Banvit with two three-pointers each and a layup by Mejia soon gave the guests a 51-58 lead, after a 0-11 run. A jumper by Smith kept Haifa within 53-58 after 30 minutes. Davis and Mejia stepped up early in the fourth quarter for a 54-62 score. An 8-0 run that Reis capped with a triple tied the game, 62-62, with under 6 minutes left. Rowland followed a jumper with a slam but Smith singlehandedly gave Haifa the lead, 70-66, in the next-to-last minute. Smith capped a 10-0 run in which he had all points and that allowed Haifa to record a very important home win.