Roland Smits carried Zalgiris Kaunas when the chips were down against Milan in Round 11. 

Rolands Smits proved his worth at crunch time as Zalgiris blew Milan away

Zalgiris Kaunas captain Edgaras Ulanovas was the star of his team's resounding 70-83 win at EA7 Emporio Armani Milan, having paced the Lithuanian champs with 20 points, 6 rebounds and 5 assists.

Ulanovas netted 11 points in a low-scoring opening period, which Milan won 19-18, while guard Keenan Evans shined throughout the contest to finish on 19 points and 4 assists, but forward Roland Smits carried the visiting team when the chips were down.

The versatile Latvian opened the second half with a slam-dunk and followed up with a barrage of three-pointers, sinking 4 of 5 shots from downtown and most of them came when Milan was on the verge of swinging the momentum.

Smits, who also posted 2 rebounds and as many steals, finished the game just 4 points shy of hitting a milestone 1,000 mark in his EuroLeague career, providing the impetus Zalgiris so badly needed to get back to winning ways after a rough patch.

Rolands Smits highlights against Milan

The Lithuanian champs had lost five of their last six and head coach Kazys Maksvytis left no room for doubt just how much strength and character it took for his players to stay strong in the face of adversity.

“It’s easy to lose confidence and the team spirit when you lose several games in a row, but with each defeat they became stronger,” Maksvytis said in a post-game interview. “We played with big motivation today,” he added.

Ulanovas echoed his coach’s views. “We knew Milan are a very good defensive team but this season with such talents as Shields and Mirotic in their ranks, they are even more dangerous offensively,” he said. “We did a great job defensively and we showed great unity as a team. We played great today but we need to be ready for the next one.”

Evans said he believes the victory could be a turning point as Zalgiris revived its hopes of reaching the postseason. “This is a big win for us,” he said. “Milan made their runs but we stayed with them in each quarter and we stayed together as a team. We’ve been struggling lately and this kind of win gives you momentum.”

Game Videos

Milan head coach Ettore Messina conceded that his men were outplayed in all departments, particularly in long-range shooting and sharing the ball as Zalgiris dished out 16 assists, 5 more than the home team.

“This is a tough loss for us. We suffered on offense as we had only 11 assists and we failed to match their aggressive approach,” Messina told the post-game press conference. “We never created enough advantage while moving the ball and we suffered all game when they attacked our big men and forwards.”

Both teams face German rivals in Round 12 as Zalgiris visits the competition’s bottom team ALBA Berlin, while Milan is away to FC Bayern Munich.

The Latvian forward impressed with a blistering second-half performance for the visitors.

EA7 Emporio Armani Milan v Zalgiris Kaunas (2023-11-30T19:30:00.000Z)

Rafi Menco – in his second season with Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv and making his 38th appearance in the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague – had a performance that may well give head coach Oded Kattash some food for thought in the coming weeks. 

Menco’s career night propelled Maccabi 

A bunch of the usual suspects took center stage as Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv bounced back from a 29-point mauling against Real Madrid by downing ALBA Berlin 102-81 (meaning they enjoyed a 50-point swing in the space of two days) in Belgrade on Thursday. 

Wade Baldwin, getting very much back to his best after missing the start of the season through injury, topped the winning team’s scorers with 18 points and also dished 6 assists – as did his backcourt running mate, Lorenzo Brown. 

Another key role was taken by Bonzie Colson with 17 points, while Roman Sorkin stepped up in the paint in the absence of Josh Nebo, scoring 10 points and adding 2 blocked shots. 

But there was also a central role for one less familiar figure. [Rafi Menco](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/euroleague/players/rafi-menco/004233/) came into the game averaging just 0.9 points, with no more than nine minutes played, two baskets scored or 2 rebounds taken in any of his previous seven appearances of the campaign. 

Rafi Menco sets his EuroLeague career-high 

On Thursday night, the 29-year-old forward – in his second season with the club and making his 38th appearance in the competition – blew all those statistics out of the water with a performance that may well give head coach Oded Kattash some food for thought in the coming weeks. 

Menco started as he meant to continue, knocking down a trio of three-pointers in just 99 seconds at the end of the first quarter, sending Maccabi into a double-digit lead for the first time and clearing the path for a comfortable victory. And he wasn’t finished there, returning at regular intervals to give solid contributions all over the floor, adding a couple of two-point scores in the final period. 

That allowed Menco to finish the game with career highs in practically every statistical category: 22:16 minutes, 13 points, 5 rebounds and a PIR of 10 were all personal bests, as were his 3 triples scored and 4 defensive boards grabbed. 

"Rafi was good," said coach Kattash after the game. "It's not easy to be in his situation, but he got his chance and I'm so happy for him. He scored three triples in a row, helping us make our first run in the game." 

"It was important for us to get back to winning after what happened in the last game," said Menco. "When I am called to play, I try to do my best and I am glad it worked out today. I hope it will be like this in the future, too."

It remains to be seen whether Menco will use this performance as a springboard towards consistently becoming a key performer for Maccabi, but he certainly enjoyed his spell in the sun and can look ahead to next week’s double-header on the road at ASVEL and Virtus with self-belief boosted like never before. 

Game News

The Maccabi reserve scored 9 of his career-high 13 points in the first quarter.

Rafi Menco’s career night propelled Maccabi 

Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv v ALBA Berlin (2023-11-30T19:05:00.000Z)

Mike James came through in the clutch for AS Monaco and the star’s heroic performance late gave his team a hard-fought 85-77 victory over Olympiacos Piraeus as well as some revenge from last season’s Final Four loss.

Mike James came through in the clutch against Olympiacos 

Mike James came through in the clutch for AS Monaco and the star’s heroic performance late gave his team a hard-fought 85-77 victory over Olympiacos Piraeus as well as some revenge from last season’s Final Four loss.

James scored 10 of his 24 points in the final 3 minutes to spark a 12-4 close to the game as Monaco improved to 7-4.

“I was just trying not to force things and stay patient. They were keying in on me so I didn’t want to get into bad situations where I had to take tough shots. I was trying to wait and take shots I thought I could make where I was kind of open,” said James, who also dished out 6 assists.

James scored to make it 73-71 and then buried a three-pointer, split free throws, assisted on Donta Hall’s big dunk, converted 2 more foul shots and finished the scoring with 2 of 3 free throws to lock up the win.

Mike James highlights vs Olympiacos

“At the end of the game I was just trying to stay aggressive and it worked out,” said James, who topped 20 points for the fifth time this season.

Monaco as a team exorcised a bit of the demons of losing to Olympiacos 76-62 in the Final Four after leading by 12 points at halftime. Monaco also earned an important win in the fight for the playoffs as Olympiacos entered the game with an identical 6-4 record.

“Everything in EuroLeague is important. Especially after how we started. We had some ups and downs and had a bad week against \[Anadolu\] Efes and Madrid. Just trying to find a level of consistency and staying at that,” said James, referring to two straight wins since losing at home to Efes and at Real in the two-round week earlier this month.

James also made some history in the game as he registered a performance index rating of 28 to move to 4,188 points all-time, passing Vassilis Spanoulis’s PIR of 4,183 and into fourth place all-time in EuroLeague history.

James’s 2 steals also moved him into a tie for 13th place with James Gist on 252 steals.

Monaco's star guard scored 10 of his 24 points in the final 3 minutes to lift Monaco to victory.

AS Monaco v Olympiacos Piraeus (2023-11-30T18:00:00.000Z)

KK Partizan came from behind to force overtime and beat Panathinaikos B.C. 92-87 in Round 11 of the 2023-24 EuroLeague season.

Partizan edges Panathinaikos, 92-87, in OT thriller

<incrowd-live-blog id="65660944980e188fe64cbf7a" client-id="EUROLEAGUE" server="standard"></incrowd-live-blog><script src="https://live-blog.incrowdsports.com/index.js"></script>

The hosts erased a 10-point fourth-quarter deficit to force overtime and beat the Greens. 

Partizan Mozzart Bet Belgrade v Panathinaikos AKTOR Athens (2023-11-30T19:45:00.000Z)

FC Bayern Munich Basketball erased a 14-point deficit to defeat Virtus Bologna 90-76 in Round 11 of the 2023-24 EuroLeague season.

Bayern rallies past Virtus, 90-76

<incrowd-live-blog id="656608fdc9217adeb163139f" client-id="EUROLEAGUE" server="standard"></incrowd-live-blog><script src="https://live-blog.incrowdsports.com/index.js"></script>

Serge Ibaka stood tall with a double-double to fuel Bayern. 

FC Bayern Munich v Virtus Segafredo Bologna (2023-11-30T19:30:00.000Z)

Yam Madar not only scored the winning basket to boost Fenerbahçe Basketball past Real Madrid Baloncesto, 100-99, but he also had a career-best night in scoring.

Yam Madar rose to the moment to help Fenerbahçe Basketball beat Real Madrid

There are not going to be many moments in [Yam Madar](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/euroleague/players/yam-madar/011052/)’s career that will top what he achieved on Thursday evening. With Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul trailing 98-99 in the final seconds of overtime against the 10-0 Real Madrid, [the Israeli guard’s masterful layup to make it 100-99](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/euroleague/news/euroleague-live-blog-fenerbahce-basketball-vs-real-madrid/) took the roof off Ulker Sports and Events Hall.

That was the first game-winner in Madar’s 48-game EuroLeague career, and what a time to do it: up against the reigning champion, which had not lost all season. Madar is still in the process of making a name for himself at Fenerbahce, following a summer move from Partizan Mozzart Bet Belgrade, but he’s already earned himself a place in the hearts of many fans with his heroics against Real.

<center>

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="tr" dir="ltr">VE O ANIN SONRASI! 😎💛💙<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/YellowLegacy?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#YellowLegacy</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/EuroLeague?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#EuroLeague</a> <a href="https://t.co/FxNGQ9VOau">https://t.co/FxNGQ9VOau</a> <a href="https://t.co/4vNUUTJemB">pic.twitter.com/4vNUUTJemB</a></p>&mdash; Fenerbahçe Beko (@FBBasketbol) <a href="https://twitter.com/FBBasketbol/status/1730327341589541213?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 30, 2023</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

### A career-best night

The 22-year-old Madar finished the night with a personal high of 17 points, beating the 15 he scored on two occasions last season with Partizan. In fact, this was just the second time that he has reached double digits in points since arriving at Fenerbahce. In addition to his scoring outburst, Madar grabbed 1 rebound, dished 2 assists, grabbed 2 steals and committed zero turnovers.

Curiously, Madar didn’t see a single second on the floor during the first quarter as Real blew Fenerbahce away, 16-29, but it didn’t take long for the pestering guard to make an impact in the second. His steal early in the quarter led to a fastbreak and a couple of free throws for Scottie Wilbekin, before he went on to score 7 points as Fenerbahce kept it close, 36-42, approaching halftime.

Madar followed up his first-half performance with a couple of three-pointers in the third, as well as the quarter’s final bucket, but Fenerbahce still found itself 8 points down, 59-67. Nevertheless, through three quarters, Madar was leading his team with 15 points, in addition to having his 1 rebound, 2 assists and 2 steals.

Yam Madar had 17 points, including the game-winning basket, as Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul beat Real Madrid 100-99 in overtime in Round 11 of the 2023-24 Turkish Airlines EuroLeague Regular Season.

Yam Madar's highlights vs. Real Madrid

### The shot

In the fourth quarter, Madar played just the first 2:26 and failed to make an impact, yet his teammates stepped up on this occasion by outscoring Real 28-20 to force an overtime period. And that is where Madar put the icing on the cake.

Miraculously, Madar entered the game with just 6 seconds ago due to his reputation as a steals specialist, with Real inbounding the ball from its end of the court. The Fenerbahce players pressurized Facundo Campazzo, who had a career night himself with 33 points, and he threw the ball to Marko Guduric. Perhaps it would have been easy for Guduric to shoot, but no.

Instead, he found the cutting Madar, who drove to the rim and sent a high-arching layup off the glass that went in, sending the crowd inside Ulker Sports and Events Hall into raptures.

It would be easy to talk himself up after playing the role of hero, but Madar instead kept it cool afterward: “I was just trying to see what I can do to get a basket. I knew we needed this basket to win, so I was just trying to get it.”

And get it he did. In just his second EuroLeague season, Madar showed on Thursday evening that he has what it takes to step up in the crucial moments, which can only be good news for Coach Itoudis.

More Fenerbahce News

Yam Madar of Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul celebrates with his teammates after their win against Real Madrid in Round 11 of the 2023-24 Turkish Airlines EuroLeague Regular Season.

The Israeli guard netted the game-winning shot on a career-best night.

Madar rose to the moment to help Fenerbahce beat Real Madrid

Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul v Real Madrid (2023-11-30T17:45:00.000Z)

Zalgiris Kaunas beat Olimpia Milano 70-83 in the Fashion Capital in Round 11 of the 2023-24 EuroLeague season.

Ulanovas, Evans propel Zalgiris past Milan, 70-83

<incrowd-live-blog id="656608aefdf8f9f2de49a9b6" client-id="EUROLEAGUE" server="standard"></incrowd-live-blog><script src="https://live-blog.incrowdsports.com/index.js"></script>

The two combined for 39 points to lift the Lithuanian champs to a victory in the Fashion Capital. 

Maccabi Tel Aviv B.C. dominated ALBA Berlin 102-81 in Round 11 of the 2023-24 EuroLeague season to improve to 6-5. 

Maccabi rolls past ALBA, 102-81

<incrowd-live-blog id="65660873c9217adeb163139b" client-id="EUROLEAGUE" server="standard"></incrowd-live-blog><script src="https://live-blog.incrowdsports.com/index.js"></script>

Wade Baldwin and Bonzie Colson combined for 35 points to lead the Israeli champs. 

AS Monaco Basket outlasted Olympiacos B.C. 85-77 at the principality in Round 11 of the 2023-24 EuroLeague season.

Monaco Basket beats Olympiacos B.C. 85-77 in semifinal rematch

<incrowd-live-blog id="656608375d49176bb86dc823" client-id="EUROLEAGUE" server="standard"></incrowd-live-blog><script src="https://live-blog.incrowdsports.com/index.js"></script>

Mike James led the way for the winners with 24 points and 6 assists.