A floater from Tyrese Rice in the dying stages of the fourth quarter against his old side gave Maccabi Electra Tel Aviv a 76-74 win over Lietuvos Rytas in Vilnius.

It gave the Israeli giants their third straight win of the Euroleague season, giving them a 3-1 record in Group D. They were made to work for the win in this encounter though, leading 45-33 at the half, Maccabi looked comfortable, but the Lithuanian side rallied back to force a tense finish.

Devin Smith led the winners with 18 points, supported by 11 from Ricky Hickman.

“We achieved a very important road win that moves us up in the group,” Smith said. “We played really great in the first half and part of the third quarter and then their big run came. The crowd pushed them forward and all of a sudden all their shots went in.

“The most important thing is that we did not give in, we stuck together as a team, kept on fighting and survived their counter attack.”

Martynas Gecevicius led the hosts with a game-high 24 points as Rytas drop to 1-3.

Elsewhere in Group D, Lokomotiv Kuban recorded a 72-69 road win over Panathinaikos in Crete.

A three-pointer from Krunoslav Simon in the last seconds ensured the win for last season’s Eurocup winners as they join Maccabi on a 3-1 record at the top of the group.

“It was a great game and this victory is a credit to us,” Simon said afterwards. “We played good in the first half, especially in defence and we didn’t allow our opponents to get their shots. When a game comes to such a thrilling end, your only option is to get the shot. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t. I took this three-point shot at the buzzer and I was lucky to watch the ball go inside.”

Simas Jasaitis led Kuban with 14 points with James Gist leading Panathinaikos with 18 as they drop to 2-2. On his 200th appearance in the Euroleague, Dimitris Diamantidis scored six points and dished out eight assists for the Greens.

The other Group D game saw Red Star Belgrade get a first win of the Euroleague season with an impressive 73-63 road win over Laboral Kutxa.

DeMarcus Nelson led the Serbians with 22 points and seven rebounds as his side moves to 1-3. Milko Bjelica had 14 to lead Vitoria, who drop to 2-2.

In Group B, EA7 Milano got a vital 76-62 away win at Brose Baskets thanks to 18 points from Italian international Alessandro Gentile and a 10-2 second quarter burst inspired by his international team-mate Nicolo Melli.

Bamberg are also at 2-2 with this defeat.

“It’s a very important win for us in such a tight group,” Milano coach Luca Banchi admitted afterwards. “To win here one week after Efes lost on a buzzer beater, it’s a big statement for us.”

Zach Wright led the German side with 13 points.

A 12-2 run helped Anadolu Efes to a 72-61 win at home to Zalgiris as the Turkish side improves to 3-1 while dropping the Lithuanian champions to 1-3.

The game was tied at 54-54 in the fourth period when Anadolu made their move, the lead was then stretched to ten points and there was no way back for Zalgiris.

Scotty Hopson paced the victors with 15 points.

Real Madrid were comfortable 85-66 winners in France over Strasbourg as they remain unbeaten in Group B.

Rudy Fernandez led the Spaniards with 24 points while Alexis Ajinca had 23 for Strasbourg.

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