2020-21Regular SeasonRound 11
Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv 85
AX Armani Exchange Milan 86
November 26, 2020 CET: 20:05
Local time: 21:05 MENORA MIVTACHIM ARENA

Milan sinks Maccabi in OT thriller

Malcolm Delaney hit a mid-range jumper with 3.6 seconds left in overtime to lift AX Armani Exchange Olimpia Milan to a thrilling 85-86 road win over Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv on Thursday night. The win improved Milan to 5-3 on the season, while Maccabi dropped to 3-8. Milan took control with a 1-21 run to end the second and start the third quarter, and held a 35-48 lead. But Maccabi rallied and went in front in the final minutes behind Scottie Wilbekin. However, Kevin Punter's four-point play sent the game into overtime where the teams traded blows before Delaney hit the game-winner. Punter paced Milan with 18 points and Delaney scored 16. Shavon Shields collected 14 points plus 11 rebounds, Kyle Hines had 12 points and 8 rebounds, and Sergio Rodriguez had 10 points, 5 assists and 3 steals. Wilbekin had 17 points and 6 assists and Elijah Bryant scored 17 with 9 rebounds for Maccabi. Othello Hunter collected 14 points plus 7 rebounds in a losing effort.

Wilbekin and Delaney traded triples to start the game before a three from Bryant and a tip-in from Tyler Dorsey helped the hosts open a 12-5 lead. Bryant's second-chance triple made it 15-7, but Kyle Hines scored 6 close range points in a 0-8 run to tie the game. A three from Chris Jones helped make it 20-18 after 10 minutes and 5 points from Bender early in the second made it 25-20. The teams continued trading baskets with Punter and John DiBartolomeo exchanging triples, but Oz Blayzer knocked down a triple and Hunter had a big dunk to push the lead to 34-27. However, Punter scored twice before Shields hit a pair of triples to extend the margin to 35-40. Maccabi coach Ioannis Sfairopoulos called a timeout, but the visitors scored 7 more points before halftime including a layup and a last-second triple from Malcolm Delaney to make it 35-46 at halftime.

The margin went to 13 right after the break, but Maccabi came out strong in the third quarter with Ante Zizic working inside, Bryant hitting a triple and Wilbekin a pair of short jumpers in an 11-1 run to get within 46-49. Hines scored inside and Rodriguez from the outside to end Milan's drought and a triple from Shields helped make it 50-59. Bryant hit a triple to end the third and make it a 6-point game going into the fourth quarter, but Hunter had a three-point play and Jones nailed a corner triple to tie it at 61-61. There were no baskets by either side for almost 3 minutes before Delaney knocked down a triple for the visitors, 61-64. Blayzer scored inside for Maccabi, but after another long drought, Shields made a put-back to put the visitors up 63-66 with 1:55 to go. Maccabi scored 7 consecutive points, with Wilbekin netting a deep three and a running floater, before setting up Hunter for an alley-oop dunk and a 70-66 lead. However, Punter answered with a three-pointer plus foul with 18.9 seconds left in regulation and after Wilbekin missed on Maccabi's final possessions, the game went to overtime.

In the extra session, the teams continued trading blows. Bryant had a three-point play, but Jeff Brooks hit a corner triple. DiBartolomeo answered with a three of his own, but Delaney's triple made it 79-81. Still, there was plenty of drama left. Hunter fought inside twice and his tip-in made it 83-81. Rodriguez replied with a three-pointer before Wilbekin made 2 free throws with 14.1 left on the clock. But Delaney took the ball, drove to the right and nailed a tough mid-range jumper over Wilbekin, lifting Milan to a dramatic win.

Long time coming

This was Milan's first road win over Maccabi in almost 33 years. The last time Milan won in Tel Aviv was in December 1987, when it registered a 93-99 in the group stage of the Champions Cup. That was also the last season Milan won the EuroLeague title.

High-scoring OT

Defenses ruled in the second half, with Maccabi and Milan combining to score 31 points in the third quarter and 28 points in the fourth. However, in just 5 minutes of their extra session, two teams combined for 31 points.

Big run

Maccabi led 34-27 with 4:30 left in the second quarter, but Milan ended the half with a 1-19 run which featured 2 three-pointers from Shavon Shields and a three from Delaney in the last second to open an 11-point halftime lead.

Team captain returns to action

This was the first game back for Maccabi's John DiBartolomeo who got hurt in Round 12 of last season. He played just below 12 minutes and scored 5 of his 8 points in overtime.

Next up

Next week in Round 12, Maccabi will be at home again to host Crvena Zvezda mts Belgrade, while Milan will welcome Panathinaikos OPAP Athens.

Malcolm Delaney - AX Armani Exchange Milan - EB20
Thursday, November 26, 2020
Euroleague.net
Referees: GARCIA, JUAN CARLOS; JAVOR, DAMIR; DIFALLAH, MEHDI
Attendance: 0
By Quarter1234Extra 1
Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv2015181715
AX Armani Exchange Milan1828131116
End of Quarter1234Extra 1
Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv2035537085
AX Armani Exchange Milan1846597086
Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv
  Rebounds Blocks Fouls
# Player Min Pts 2FG 3FG FT O D T As St To Fv Ag Cm Rv PIR
0 BRYANT, ELIJAH 36:43 17 2/6 4/4 1/1 1 8 9 3 3 2 1 2 3 3 25
1 WILBEKIN, SCOTTIE 28:41 17 4/8 2/8 3/4   3 3 6 1 3     3 5 15
3 JONES, CHRIS 16:24 6 0/2 2/4     1 1   1 5     1 1 -1
4 CALOIARO, ANGELO 32:02 2 1/4 0/1   3 2 5 3   1   1 2 2 4
5 HUNTER, OTHELLO 27:44 14 5/10   4/5 5 2 7   1 1     1 3 17
11 DORSEY, TYLER 19:47 4 2/4 0/2   1 2 3 3         5   1
12 DIBARTOLOMEO, JOHN 11:36 8   2/3 2/2 1   1           1 2 9
14 BLAYZER, OZ 17:01 5 1/2 1/5 0/1   1 1       1   1 2 2
17 BENDER, DRAGAN 19:01 8 2/3   4/5 1 7 8         1 1 3 15
18 SAHAR, DORI DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
23 ZIZIC, ANTE 16:01 4 2/9     3 1 4 1       1 2   -1
25 ATIAS, YONATAN DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Team             4 4               4
Totals 225:00 85 19/48 11/27 14/18 15 31 46 16 6 12 2 5 20 21 90
        39.6% 40.7% 77.8%
Head coach: SFAIROPOULOS, IOANNIS
Min: Minutes played; Pts: Points; 2FG M-A: 2-point Field Goals (Made-Attempted); 3FG M-A: 3-point Field Goals (Made-Attempted); FT M-A: Free Throws (Made-Attempted); Rebounds: O (Offensive), D (Defensive), T (Total); As: Assists; St: Steals; To: Turnovers; Bl: Blocks (Fv: In Favor / Ag: Against); Fouls: Cm (Commited), Rv (Received); PIR: Performance Index Rating
AX Armani Exchange Milan
  Rebounds Blocks Fouls
# Player Min Pts 2FG 3FG FT O D T As St To Fv Ag Cm Rv PIR
0 PUNTER, KEVIN 32:21 18 5/8 2/5 2/4 1 2 3   1     1 1 8 20
2 LEDAY, ZACH 16:27   0/2 0/1     4 4 1   3     1 3 1
5 MICOV, VLADIMIR 21:26 6 3/5 0/1     2 2   1 1     3   2
10 ROLL, MICHAEL 8:43 2 1/2 0/2         2 1       1   1
13 RODRIGUEZ, SERGIO 22:02 10 2/3 2/4         5 3 1     2   12
15 TARCZEWSKI, KALEB 13:27 1 0/1   1/2 1 3 4     1 2   2 2 4
19 BILIGHA, PAUL DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
20 CINCIARINI, ANDREA DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
23 DELANEY, MALCOLM 31:57 16 2/3 4/10     2 2 5   2     3 1 12
31 SHIELDS, SHAVON 31:03 14 2/11 3/4 1/2 4 7 11 1 1 2 1 1 2 2 14
32 BROOKS, JEFF 19:48 7 1/1 1/2 2/2   1 1       1   3 1 6
42 HINES, KYLE 27:46 12 5/6   2/2 1 7 8     2 1   3 3 18
Team           1 3 4               4
Totals 225:00 86 21/42 12/29 8/12 8 31 39 14 7 12 5 2 21 20 94
        50% 41.4% 66.7%
Head coach: MESSINA, ETTORE

Head Coaches

SFAIROPOULOS, IOANNIS
Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv
"I congratulate the players for the big effort they gave in the second half. It was not easy to get back into the game against a very talented team. We had a bad moment in the last 6 minutes of the first half when we allowed easy points and our offense didn’t work the right way. But in the second half, we played excellent defense and had a chance to win the game. We fought really hard and sometimes you need luck. We are very disappointed we didn’t win, but in the locker room we are together and we believe. No matter how many hits we are getting now at the beginning of the season, we will keep fighting. We are Maccabi, and we will fight until the end. This is a promise to all our fans. We will fight and turn it around."
MESSINA, ETTORE
AX Armani Exchange Milan

"It went down to one possession. Kevin Punter made big shots but everybody played with their heart. To come down here and win, after they lost a few games and surely played with a great sense of urgency, it is not easy. We did not catch Maccabi half asleep. They were very very focused, so I am very happy because my players played through mistakes, Malcolm hit a couple of great shots in overtime. Of course, it's an important win, but it is just one win over 34 games."

"It’s an important win. We played against an excellent team. We made some big shots and also defended in a better way when needed. I’m thankful to the players for the effort they put in for 45 minutes. When you win by 1 in overtime, there isn’t a lot of difference. We have to be realistic, it could have gone either way. We had a great second part of the second quarter, but we didn’t start the third quarter well and that could have cost us the game."

Players

BLAYZER, OZ
Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv
"We still believe. We are missing that one play, one shot, and on the other end, they hit a tough shot. We can only improve from here and believe that luck will come to our side because it's still early in the season. We can change it, we only need that spark that will get that momentum going."
PUNTER, KEVIN
AX Armani Exchange Milan
"It was a hard-fought game. We didn't give in. Maccabi is a great team, it went back-and-forth and it came down who got a stop. Both teams wanted it, you have to credit those guys, but for us, we came up big, got some key stops and made some big shots."
HINES, KYLE
AX Armani Exchange Milan
"What a game. Overtime game, on the road, versus Maccabi. It is the first time we won here in 30-something years. But this is what it's going to take for us to win this year, especially in the EuroLeague, it is all character. This is a big character win."
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