Baldwin-Brown duo pace Maccabi past Fenerbahce in preseason scrimmage / News - Basketnews.com

Powered by Lorenzo Brown and Wade Baldwin, Maccabi beat Fenerbahce 82-78 on the first day of the Nick Galis International Tournament in Rhodes. However, fans who had bought tickets to the game went through an ordeal.

Credit: Seffi Magriso/GettyImages Credit Seffi Magriso/GettyImages

On the first day of the Nick Galis International Tournament held in Rhodes, Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv took down Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul 82-78 (26-20, 17-15, 27-26, 12-17).

It was the first preseason friendly game between EuroLeague teams.

Fenerbahce will take on Panathinaikos Athens on Saturday (16:00 CEST), while the Greek squad will face Maccabi on Sunday (16:00 CEST).

Wade Baldwin led all scorers with 16 points, while Bonzie Colson and Lorenzo Brown followed for the winning team with 10 points apiece. Sertac Sanli scored 15 points for Fenerbahce, while Scottie Wilbekin added 11 and Nick Calathes 8.

Dimitris Itoudis tried to pair Sertac Sanli and Giorgos Papagiannis, while deploying Nick Calathes and Tyler Dorsey at the guard positions. However, Maccabi maintained the lead for the better part of the first quarter. The Israeli side improved its defense after the four-minute mark and scored some easy baskets in transition (25-16).

Fenerbahce's size in the paint and deep rotation allowed them to build a partial score of 15-5 and regain the lead (31-30). Itoudis called two timeouts trying to improve his team's defensive rebounding, but Fener couldn't take advantage of their pick n' rolls and stop Maccabi's offense.

Oded Kattash's players kept pressing the ball, forcing a lot of turnovers. Thus, Maccabi made it 50-40 after 22 minutes and 68-53 when Wade Baldwin and Lorenzo Brown geared up on the offensive end. Scottie Wilbekin and a better defensive effort, powered by a couple of Papagiannis' blocks, allowed Fener to get closer (70-65).

However, Maccabi picked it up quickly since their opponents weren't able to capitalize on some open looks and cut down the deficit even more. Nate Sestina and Yam Madar changed the picture with consecutive layups (80-77) with two minutes left, as Nick Calathes served as Fener's game-changer.

Josh Nebo dunked before Papagiannis could take off, making it 82-77 for Maccabi. Fenerbahce's chances evaporated when Yam Madar and Melih Mahmutoglu saw their 3-point attempts fall off the rim.

Fans were allowed into the gym almost at the end of the first half, as local authorities deemed the installation unfit to accommodate the public, due to the lack of fire protection. Thus, the game started without fans in the stands, even though tickets for the game had been sold. According to the initial decision, the contest was going to be held behind closed doors.

The final solution was given with the intervention of Nikos Galis himself, as well as after permission was granted by the Greek Basketball Federation and the Greek Ministry of Sports.

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