Pnini, Blu shoot Maccabi Electra past Galatasaray

Maccabi Electra Tel Aviv rebounded from one of the worst losses in club history with a spectacular showing in routing Galatasaray Liv Hospital 97-81 on Thursday at Nokia Arena. The hosts improved to 6-2 in Top 16 Group F to remain at least in one of the top three spots. The result dropped Galatasaray to 3-5. Guy Pnini led a spectacular shooting attack for Maccabi y going 5 for 5 from downtown. As a team the winners were 16 for 28 on three-pointers (57.1%), while Galatasaray made only 9 threes on the same amount of attempts. Former Maccabi player Milan Macvan felt right at home as he scored Galatasaray’s first 10 points to keep the game close in the first quarter, but David Blu heated up in the second and the lead reached double figures by halftime. A 12-0 third-quarter charge made it a 25-point game and a late Galatasaray rally only closed the difference to 10 as Maccabi cruised to victory. Pnini finished with a season-high 17 points for Maccabi, Blu scored 16, Tyrese Rice and Ricky Hickman netted 12 apiece – the former also had 5 assists and 4 steals and the latter dished 7 assists – and Joe Ingles scored 10 for the winners. Malik Hairston led six Galatasaray scorers in double figures with 18 points. Macvan, Zoran Erceg, Carlos Arroyo and Pops Mensah-Bonsu each scored 12 and Ender Arslan finished with 11. Arroyo, another former Maccabi player, also dished 7 assists.