Ricky Hickman leads Maccabi Tel Aviv past Mens Sana Siena

In an outstanding battle between Turkish Airlines Euroleague powerhouses, Maccabi Electra Tel Aviv stayed undefeated in Group B by edging Montepaschi Siena 70-68 in Israel on Thursday. Maccabi leads Group B with a 2-0 record and Montepaschi dropped to 0-2. Ricky Hickman led the winners with 19 points, including the go-ahead basket with 4 seconds to go. Malcolm Thomas added 14 and 11 rebounds while Lior Eliyahu also had a double-double - 11 points, 11 rebounds - for Maccabi. Marcelus Kemp led Montepaschi with 16 points. Bobby Brown added 11, Viktor Sanikidze pulled down 12 boards and Mario Kasun grabbed 11 rebounds for the guests. Brown hit a wild 15-meter bomb to give Montepaschi a 14-20 lead after 10 minutes. Kristjan Kangur allowed his team to extended its margin to 23-31 late in the second quarter. Thomas rescued Maccabi and a three-pointer by Hickman allowed the hosts to regain the lead, 45-43, after the break. Tomas Ress gave Montepaschi a 62-66 edge with under 3 minutes left but Eliyahu and Hickman stepped up to tie, 68-68, with 37 seconds left. Tomas Ress and Sanikidze missed respective shots, Hickman scored at the other end and Kemp could not score in the game's final possession. Maccabi legend Tal Burstein was honored before the game, being awarded an outstanding ovation. Burstein won back-to-back Euroleague titles with Maccabi in 2004 and 2005.