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Maroussi’s victory over their big opponent Maccabi Tel Aviv with 83-75 brought great joy to the Greek basketball team. With this victory Maroussi for the first time in its history ranked 16th in the Euroleague. This is the first big success of the team after its participation in the finals of the Cup "Sapporo" and its victory over Salon. This long-awaited moment was well earned - during the game Maroussi fought in the true sense of the word. The beginning of the game was difficult for the team from a psychological point of view. They played timid and could not score even a point. After they overpowered their nerves and stress, they managed to concentrate, got into the rhythm of the game and started to score point after point. The lead, which the guests earned during the first half was equalized by the American Billy Keys. Followed was a lead by Maccabi and a real struggle for both teams. The last 10 minutes of the game proved to be crucial for Maroussi when the team was very concentrated and attacked the basket of the opponent as many times as it was needed to qualify in the Top 16 ...

The meeting between the two teams was extremely important for Maroussi. Their goal was to rank in the Top16 but their number one objective was countering the enemy through emphasizing on defense. They did not want Maccabi, which is an extremely strong team, to develop a good pace in the game and to score more points. The Greek team’s calm and peaceful spirit, which they gained towards the end of the game, helped them take advantage of the situation and counter attack the guests, while they even managed to make the right decisions in difficult moments – the most important thing to win a game. Around 5000 fans supported the team and gave it courage. Maroussi players even congratulated the coach of Maccabi - Pini Gershon. According to him, the team of Maroussi certainly wanted the victory more than his players.
 
The draw for the second phase of the Euroleague - Top 16 will be drawn on January18 in Barcelona. Second phase games will be held from January 27 to March 11 and each of the first two places winning teams in a total of 4 groups, will continue to the playoffs. The Final Four Euroleague will be held from May 7-9, 2010 in Paris.
 
Here's how the set up of the Euroleague Top 16 looks like:

 
First group - Barcelona (Spain), Olympiakos, CSKA Moscow (Russia), Real Madrid (Spain)
 
Second group - Siena (Italy), Malaga (Spain), Caja Laboral (Spain), Panathinaikos
 
Third group - Zalgiris (Lithuania), Partizan (Serbia), Maccabi Tel Aviv (Israel), Kimki (Russia)
 
Fourth group - Tsibona, Efes Pilsen (Turkey), Maroussi, Prokom (Poland)
 
Photo: sport.gr