Andorra captures first road win in Israel
MoraBanc Andorra captured its first road win of the 7DAYS EuroCup season by pounding Maccabi Rishon LeZion 67-86 on Tuesday night in Israel. Andorra led from start to finish, taking a 13-point lead after the first quarter and growing it to 19 on several occasions. The difference was in double figures throughout the entire second half. David Jelinek paced the winners with 15 points off the bench, Clevin Hannah tallied 13 points and 9 assists, Frantz Massenat added 13 points and 5 assists, Moussa Diagne contributed 10 points and 7 rebounds and Tyson Perez also scored 10. The result lifted Andorra to 2-2 in Group A, while Rishon fell to 1-3. Round 3 MVP Alex Hamilton starred again for Rishin with 21 points and 4 assists, Darryl Monroe had 16 points and 7 rebounds and Johnathan Williams added 10 points in defeat.
The visitors struck first with the game's first 5 points. It took 3 and a half minutes before Monroe got Rishon on the scoreboard with a mid-range jumper. Back-to-back three-pointers by Jelinek and Massenat boosted the Andorra advantage to 4-13 and resulted in a Rishon timeout. Nacho Llovet gave the visitors their first double-digit lead with a reverse layup. Jelinek free throws made it 8-21 after 10 minutes. Hamilton had 7 points in a 9-3 start to the second quarter that narrowed the deficit to 7. Andorra regained its composure and re-extended the lead to 13. A Tyson Perez triple in the final minute of the half followed by Massenat's layup on the buzzer gave Andorra a 32-47 halftime cushion. Massenat opened the second half with a triple that further deflated the slim Rishon hopes. The margin reached 19 a number of times in the third quarter before Williams ended the quarter at 51-67. Hamilton rallied the hosts to 59-72 before Andorra called timeout. The visitors regained their composure and held on down the stretch for a key road win.
Key numbers
Andorra outshot Rishon from every area, making 66.7 percent of its two-pointers (18 of 27) and 44.4% of its threes (12 of 27). Combine those numbers with the fact that Andorra made as many triples as Rishon attempted and you have a major factor in the outcome.
Two stars not enough for Rishon
Rishon's top two stars, Darryl Monroe and Alex Hamilton, produced fine efforts and finished with performance index ratings of 24 and 25, respectively in 63 minutes combined. The remainder of the Rishon team had a combined PIR of 15 in 137 minutes.
Andorra got major bench help
The visitors got significant production through its second unit with players off the bench combining for 38 points, 14 rebounds, 8 assists and 6 steals in 76 combined minutes. Players like David Jelinek, Tyson Perez, Dejan Todorovic and Nacho Llovet collectively ensured that there was never a drop off in play for Andorra.
What's next?
Rishon returns to EuroCup action on Tuesday when it seeks its first road win in Germany against ratiopharm Ulm. Andorra returns home to take on Group A co-leader Promitheas Patras.
Tuesday, October 22, 2019
Eurocupbasketball.com