Maccabi Tel Aviv beat Alba Berlin in Euroleague basketball

JERUSALEM, Jan. 25 (Xinhua) -- Israeli champions Maccabi Tel Aviv beat Basketball Bundesliga champions Alba Berlin 87-78 in a postponed 20th round game of the Euroleague on Tuesday evening.

The Israeli hosts nailed their ninth win of the campaign to date from 20 games, while Alba remains with six wins out of 20 games as well.

The rescheduled game, played at the Menorah Mivtachim Arena in Tel Aviv in front of 9,103 fans, was postponed from January 12 due to an outbreak of COVID-19 in the German team.

After a close first quarter, ending at 23-23, Jalen Reynolds inspired Maccabi to take a 34-25 lead in the 16th minute.

Derrick Williams and Ante Zizic helped Maccabi extend the margin to 65-48 in the third quarter, but a 10-2 run by Alba cut the deficit to nine points ahead of the decisive quarter.

Alba came as close as 79-76 with 2:30 left on the clock, thanks to 3-pointers by Louis Olinde and Maodo Lo, but points by Keenan Evans and John DiBartolomeo secured the home win.

Scottie Wilbekin scored a team-high 18 points for Maccabi, with Williams adding 16 more.

Lo led Alba's scorers with 18 points. His teammate Luke Sikma added 12 points.

Alba will next face Bayern in Munich in a German derby on Friday, while Maccabi will play against Zalgiris Kaunas in Lithuania on February 1.