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Basketball / Arroyo the man as TA edges Le Mans By Haaretz Sports Staff Maccabi Tel Aviv needed an overtime basket from Carlos Arroyo to overcome a stubborn Le Mans team 82-80 and record their second win in this season's EuroLeague. Playing in front of 11,000 fans at Yad Eliahu, the French team was first to get onto the scoreboard and Maccabi was unable to open its account in its first two offenses. When the Yellows finally managed to score their first points, it was thanks to Lior Eliyahu, who not only sank a two-pointer but extracted a foul to complete a three-point offense. Advertisement The visiting team grabbed the lead back, but D'Or Fisher and Marcus Brown soon leveled things up at 7-7. The French team then showed why it's such a surprise that they remain winless in this season's EuroLeague: three unanswered points from outside the paint - two of them from former Maccabi Tel Aviv benchwarmer David Bluthenthal gave them a handy 16-7 lead. Tal Burstein then managed two points to stop Le Mans running away with the game and the French obliged by missing their next two points. By now Maccabi was driving to the basket, with Arroyo adding two to his total from the foul line. The French team responded with two consecutive baskets from close range, while Arroyo hit Maccabi's first three-pointer of the evening. There were two players called Batista on the court, but it was Le Mans' player - Jose - who scored the next points, giving his team a 20-16 advantage. Then Maccabi's Batista managed to get a foul from his namesake and sank both points as the first quarter drew to a close. But there was still time for Le Mans to score twice from the line and to steal from Batista and score on the buzzer. Maccabi started the second quarter with a lovely basket by Yaniv Green, who drove unopposed into the French defense. Le Mans was unable to score at the start of the second quarter and even when they did manage a lightning offense, Chester Simmons was on hand to halt them. Maccabi's game continued to be confused and, after another Le Mans basket increased the visitors' advantage to 28-21, coach Effi Birenboim called a much-needed time-out. By now neither team was playing anything even close to attractive basketball, but the French, at least, were in total control under the basket and controlled the pace of the game. A three-pointer from Williams cut the home team's deficit to just two points and, after a time-out, Bluthenthal scored one from the foul line and then Fisher cut the lead to a single point. What followed in the minutes before the end of the second quarter can only be described as a nightmare, with neither side seemingly able to find the basket; the fans saw turnover after turnover and miss after miss, forcing Birenboim to take another time-out with 25 seconds left before the end of the quarter. Maccabi, at least, came out of the time-out with a fine offensive, ending with a slam dunk from Fisher ending the scoring for the half at 31-30 to Le Mans. Maccabi managed to turn a one-point deficit into a one-point advantage by the end of the third quarter, but when Bluthenthal sank another three-pointer it began a nervous final quarter for both teams, in which the lead changed hand on almost every attack. In the final minute, with Le Mans leading by three, Maccabi took another time-out, after which Brown scored a three-pointer to level the game at 73-73. Brian Chase had a chance to win it for Le Mans in the final second, but his miss sent the game into overtime. Overtime was another tight affair, and it looked as if the teams would need another five-minute period to separate them, when Arroyo showed all the coolness in the world to sink the winning basket and give a very grateful home crowd the victory it had been praying for. Bookmark to del.icio.us   Expecting change Hamas leader Meshal says Obama has no choice but to talk to group. Kosher Kiwi New Zealand elects a Jewish and conservative Prime Minister.

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