Maccabi Electra turned Le Mans away 82-80

Carlos Arroyo hit a jumper with 1.1 seconds left in overtime to give Maccabi Elecrtra an 82-80 victory at home, surviving a tough effort by Le Mans Sarthe Basket. Maccabi Tel Aviv improved to 2-1 in Group A, while Le Mans remained winless at 0-3. Arroyo had 19 points, 7 rebounds and 5 assists and D’Or Fischer collected 20 points and 7 rebounds to lead the hosts. Veteran Marcus Brown was also instrumental with 9 points – including a crucial three-pointer that forced the extra session. Le Mans’s David Bluthenthal led all scorers with 23 points including 5 three-pointers against his former team. Brian Chase had 14 points, 5 rebounds and 5 assists in a losing effort, while Antoine Diot added 11 points, Alain Koffi posted 10 points and 8 rebounds J.P. Batista netted 10 points as Le Mans tried for the upset attempt.

Blutenthal opened the scoring for the guests and his three-point play made it 3-7 in the early going. Diot knocked down back-to-back three-pointers and after another Maccabi turnover, Bluthenthal nailed a triple as Le Mans led 7-16 midway through the first. But Arroyo scored 7 points as the Israeli basketball giants pulled to within 18-20 before Le Mans led 18-24 after one period.

Yavin Green hit the first 3 points of the second quarter only to see consecutive baskets by Koffi make it 21-28. But Maccabi worked extremely hard defensively and Fischer did just enough on the offensive side of the court with two more baskets to leave Maccabi trailing just 30-31 at the break after allowing just 7 Le Mans points in the second quarter.

Fischer continued his strong game with 6 straight points in guiding Maccabi to a 10-5 run to start the second half for a 40-36 lead. Lior Eliyahu and Omri Casspi both made two baskets in helping Maccabi stay ahead despite three long balls by Bluthenthal. And Arroyo’s score gave Maccabi a 54-53 lead after three periods.

Another Bluthenthal triple to open the fourth pushed the visitors ahead 54-56. But Tre Simmons answered right back with a three of his own. Diot knotted the game at 61-61 with a three-pointer, but Arroyo came right back with a three-point play. Chase knocked down a triple the next time down the court. Chase would then hit jumpers to make it 66-69 and 68-71. And then he drained two foul shots with 15.7 seconds left for a 70-73 advantage. But Brown buried a three-pointer from the left wing with 9.3 seconds remaining to even the game at 73-73 and Chase missed his running jumper in the final seconds.

Koffi opened the overtime session with a score, but failed to convert a three-point play. After Brown hit a layup to even the game, Bluthenthal’s jumperpbut the guests ahead 75-77. Fischer’s dunk and Tal Burnstein’s breakaway layup gave Maccabi 79-77 lead. Dewarick Spencer answered with a three-pointer with 47 seconds to go before Arroyo made just one of two foul shots with 34 seconds to even the game. Maleye Ndoye missed a jumper with 11 seconds to give a chance to Arroyo, who hit a jumper from the foul line extended with 1.1 seconds left. And then Spencer’s three-point winning attempt drew iron, but did not go in.