Maccabi Fox Tel Aviv's road stretch continues Thursday night (19:30, live on Sport5 - channel 55) as they'll compete against Anadolu Efes as part of the 16th EuroLeague fixture. The Yellow & Blue come into Istanbul after the home victory over Panathinaikos holding an 11:4 record in the top European competition. On the other end, the Turkish squad is ranked third in the EuroLeague with a 12:3 record. Once again, Maccabi will be without the injured Omri Casspi, Tarik Black, Nate Wolters, and John DiBartolomeo.

"We have a difficult game, facing a really good team holding the best offense per possession in the EuroLeague, especially at home. They are an offensive-minded club, and they will be extra motivated after the last home loss against CSKA", Said head coach Giannis Sfairopoulos before the departure to Turkey. "Our job is going to be very difficult, but we will fight to do our best, we know what to do, and we will need to follow the gameplan. Defensively we will need to play good and on the offensive end to take advantage of each possession we have. The news about the injured players is the same, we knew we would need to play in Istanbul without Tarik (Black) and Omri (Casspi)".



"It's kind of always what we preach that's defense. We got to come out and play well defensively to give ourselves a chance", Told Angelo Caloiaro about the keys to the game. "The (roster) situation is obviously not an ideal one for the team, but we just need to continue to play hard, work, try to stick to our gameplan as much as possible, and hopefully, things will work out for us".

"Play defense, we need to have a solid game on that end, stop some of their key guys and just rebound, run the floor, stop transition, and play that way", Said Maccabi's center Othello Hunter. "We don't have a special plan to stop Larkin, we need to figure it out as a team. He is one of those elite offensive players, he is quick, so we have to make it hard for him to score. We fight hard, play with our hearts, and everybody gives everything they have".

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Maccabi Fox Tel Aviv suffered a 77:99 defeat to Anadolu Efes, as part of the 16th EuroLeague fixture. The Yellow & Blue were tight to the Turkish squad in the first half, however, a host 22:2 run in the third quarter sealed the game. Jake Cohen filled in Tarik Black's shoes scoring 15 points, while Wilbekin added 12 points in 17 minutes. Next Thursday, Maccabi will head out to Kaunas to face Sarunas Jasikevicius squad.

Giannis Sfairopoulos began the game with Scottie Wilbekin, Yovel Zoosman, Elijah Bryant, Quincy Acy, and Othello Hunter in the starting five. Vasilije Micic opened the contest with a shot from behind the arc, but the Yellow & Blue defense stepped up, Wilbekin hit two three's a Quincy Acy slam gave the visitors a 13:8 advantage. Krunoslav Simon led a 7:0 Efes run to put them on top, 15:17. At 17:21, Wilbekin went to the locker room with an ankle injury as Simon kept leading his squad to 19:23 Turkish advantage after 10 minutes.

Deni Avdija and Jake Cohen were in charge of reducing the deficit, 27:29. Avdija later tied it up at 34:34, and Cohen scored next to put the visitors ahead. However, Rodrigue Beaubois ignited a 14:2 run that gave Efes a double-digit lead, 38:48. Wilbekin reentered the game for Maccabi, and a three-pointer by Yovel Zoosman on the halftime buzzer made it 41:48 at the break.



Wilbekin sank a three to start the second half, but the hosts took off on an 18:2 run that made it a 20 point game, 46:66. The Turkish squad kept on splashing shots from deep on it's way to a 58:80 advantage going into the final quarter. 

Maccabi started the fourth-period strong scoring the first five points, reducing the score to 63:80, but that didn't help against the host's hot night from deep. From that point on, the game went into garbage time until the final whistle, 79:99.

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