A decisive 9-0 surge in the closing stages gave Maccabi the victory
Maccabi stuns Monaco, 91-88, for third straight win

Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv extended its winning streak to three games by defeating AS Monaco 91-88 at Aleksandar Nikolic Hall on Thursday night. In an entertaining back-and-forth clash featuring several lead changes, the hosts closed the game with a 7-0 run to record three wins in a row for the first time this season. Maccabi may have missed out on the postseason, but this victory improves its record to 9-20. Meanwhile, Monaco is still pushing for a top-four spot despite dropping to 17-12.
Roman Sorkin and Rokas Jokubaitis paced Maccabi with 18 points each. Levi Randolph netted 17 and Trevion Williams recorded a double-double of 15 points and 11 rebounds. For Monaco, Mike James led all scorers with 25 points, Daniel Theis netted 16, Elie Okobo had 13 and Mam Jaiteh paired his 12 points with 11 boards.
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Williams opened the scoring with an alley-oop slam, but 3 points from Alpha Diallo and buckets by Okobo and James gave Monaco a 2-7 lead. Maccabi responded with an 8-2 run, involving triples by Randolph and Sorkin, who put the hosts ahead, 10-9. Jokubaitis took over with 5 straight points to maintain a 15-13 cushion. Jaiteh scored inside, but 6 points from William Rayman off the bench made it 21-18 after 10 minutes.
Jordan Loyd nailed one from deep against his former team and James sank back-to-back buckets to put Monaco back in front, 27-29. Williams and Sorkin scored in the paint for another lead change, 33-31. Petr Cornelie drilled a corner three and Theis added 4 points to his tally, with Okobo netting off the glass for a 39-42 lead at halftime.
Monaco opened the second half with a 0-6 run inspired by James and Jaiteh, who scored a couple of baskets to open a 39-48 lead. But Randolph drained a triple and Sorkin netted a put-back bucket before a three-point play by the former brought Maccabi within 47-48. James and Theis scored 5 and 4 points, respectively, but Williams converted a three-point play of his own, trimming the deficit to 58-59. Monaco was dealt a major blow, as Theis hobbled off with a back injury, but Jaiteh made 2 of 2 from the line for a 59-63 lead heading into the closing quarter.
Jaiteh added 2 points to his tally and Jaron Blossomgame netted a corner triple to make it 61-69. Jokubaitis responded with 5 straight points and Marial Shayok drilled one from deep to bring Maccabi within 69-71. Triples from James and Okobo were followed by another Shayok three-pointer before Randolph made it 75-77 with a layup. Then, the game turned into a free-throw contest, with Monaco maintaining an 84-88 lead with 1:41 left on the clock. But Sorkin nailed a triple, Jokubaitis scored inside and Randolph hit a couple of free throws to put Maccabi in front, 91-88. James missed a triple that would have sent it to overtime and Maccabi celebrated a hard-fought win.