The hosts overcame a terrible start to the third quarter to grab its ninth win
Bolomboy, Yago lead Crvena Zvezda past Maccabi, 81-73
Crvena Zvezda Meridianbet Belgrade got back to winning ways by downing Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv 81-73 at Belgrade Arena on Friday night. With this win, Zvezda finished the first half of the regular season with a winning record, 9-8, while Maccabi dropped to 4-13.
Zvezda led by 15 at halftime but Maccabi opened the second half with a 0-17 run. However, Joel Bolomboy and Yago Dos Santos carried the team after that, and with a little help from Rokas Giedraitis, Zvezda pulled away again. Bolomboy finished with 17 points and Yago paired 15 points with 7 assists in a victory. Roman Sorkin had 21 points and 9 rebounds, Levi Randolph scored 16, and Jaylen Hoard collected 14 points plus 11 rebounds in a loss.
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Bolomboy opened the scoring with a pair of close-range baskets, but Sorkin scored 7 points, including a triple, then Hoard scored inside twice to open a 10-13 Maccabi lead. But Canaan hit his second triple to get Zvezda's offense moving, then Nedovic had a driving layup and a triple to make it 21-15 at the end of the first quarter.
Nedovic hit another three, and Yago had a driving layup as Zvezda needed 64 seconds to open a double-digit lead, 26-15. The baskets kept coming in threes, as Yago and Rayman traded triples, and Mitrovic had a three-point play before Randolph and Sorkin hit back-to-back threes to set a 34-28 score. But Canaan hit a triple before Petusev went on a run, scoring 8 points and ensuring it was 48-33 at halftime.
Maccabi dominated to start the second half, going on a 0-17 run. Blatt and Jokubaitis were orchestrating things, Sorkin and Hoard started the run before Randolph hit a triple. More baskets from Sorkin and Hoard put Maccabi in front 48-50 with 4:30 left in the third. But Bolomboy stopped the bleeding inside, Daum knocked down a corner triple as Zvezda answered with a 7-0 run of its own. Sorkin and Hoard scored some more, but Rokas Giedraitis beat the third-quarter buzzer with a triple to make it 60-54.
Baskets were few and far between in the early minutes of the fourth quarter. Maccabi got within 62-59, but Bolomboy scored from long range before Yago and Giedraitis connected from long range. A three-point play from Bolomboy and another triple from Yago opened a 76-62 lead. David DeJulius stopped the bleeding with a triple, but all Maccabi could do was cut into the deficit. Another DeJulius triple made it 79-70, but Zvezda grabbed two offensive rebounds, with Bolomboy's put-back restoring a double-digit margin and sealing the deal.