Maccabi Tel Aviv downed Monaco 93-83 in Euroleague play on Tuesday night as Bonzie Colson set the tone early and often to help the Israeli squad take the home-away-from-home win in Belgrade.
The yellow-and-blue rattled off a 14-4 run to end the first quarter and grab a 10-point lead (22-12) thanks to strong play from Colson. But when Mike James began to threaten the advantage, Rafi Menco drilled home a trio of triples in the third quarter to keep Oded Katash’s squad in front for good.
With the victory, Maccabi moved to 11-7 to open the Euroleague double week, with the back end coming up on Thursday with a road game against Fenerbahce in Lithuania instead of Turkey due to the security situation.
Colson led the way with 27 points while Lorenzo Brown and Wade Baldwin scored 12 points each in the win. James dropped 27 points, Diallo added 20 points and Okobo scored 11 points for Monaco in the loss.
“We really wanted this game and it’s never easy against Monaco as they have many weapons,” Katash said.
“Offensively and defensively we knew it was going to be an aggressive game and I really liked the effort. Most of the game we played the right way on both sides of the court. I liked the way we reacted in the second half when they started to hit tough shots as Mike James did his thing. This was a big one for us.”
Baldwin took the bull by the horns for Maccabi Tel Aviv with a pair of early layups while Roman Sorkin and Colson scored inside. But Alpha Diallo, from the outside and inside, knotted the game up at 8-8 midway through the first quarter.
Brown and Josh Nebo found points, Sorkin put in a 3-point play, Tamir Blatt went from downtown and added a deuce to pace Maccabi as Kemba Walker tried to keep Monaco afloat.
Blatt knocked down a jumper, Walker responded from deep while Colson matched him and added a deuce.Elie Okobo and Diallo scored for the visitors, but Maccabi stayed in front 31-21 with 5:46 left in the second quarter.
Colson dialed up long distance, Okobo scored a 3-point play and John Brown added points inside. Sorkin and Jade Rivero continued to find points, as did an active Colson as he scored at will to finish the first half with 14 points and send Tel Aviv into the break ahead 49-35.
Baldwin went from deep to get the second half under way, but James started to heat up while Diallo and Brown quickly dropped the Maccabi lead to single digits.
Menco came on to drain a trio of triples to keep Katash’s squad in front 64-54 after 30 minutes of action.Webb got the fourth quarter under way with a 3-pointer, Monaco countered with free-throws from James and Okobo to go along with a 3-point play from Donta Hall. But Colson, Brown, Baldwin and Nebo all found points to keep Maccabi in front 78-69 with five minutes remaining in regulation time.
Not throwing in the towel, James drilled home his fifth 3-pointer, but Colson scored off a rebound, Baldwin hit a corner 3-ball and Colson came back with a dunk to finish off the game for Tel Aviv and notch the win.
Looking ahead
“In a double week, the second game is always different and perhaps we will need to split the effort with the players due to rest, but we will see when we recover and then we have a big game on Thursday,” noted Katash.
“They deserved to win and from the beginning they wanted to play better and more than us,” Monaco head coach Sasa Obradovic said. “If you give the rhythm to such a quality team it’s not easy to find your own momentum. We had a better fight in the second half, but we gave confidence to their best players. If you don’t have emotions it’s very hard.
We missed our toughness and we weren’t aggressive. We allowed them to get 15 points from offensive rebounds without resistance so it’s hard for any team in that situation. This was 100% lack of focus and attitude.”
Colson, the game’s MVP, spoke about the victory as well as his feelings about this season’s team.
“I just wanted to play solid. I thought we played tremendously as a group on the defensive end and I think that is what won us the game. Offensively, we moved the ball and we came ready to play from the jump. When we do that ,we are a special group. Special teams get these wins in a double week and we believe that we are one of the special teams so we will lock in and get the win on Thursday against Fenerbahce.”