McDonald Shoots Girona To Win

Veteran point guard Ariel McDonald scored 21 points, many of them early to help fire Akasvayu Girona to victory over Maccabi Rishon Lezion.

Hoping to follow the example fellow Spanish side DKV Joventut, who won the title last year, Svetislav Pesic's team led by as many as 19 points before triumphing 76-66.

The ACB side has now won two straight in EuroCup Group D.

McDonald has played with the biggest clubs in Europe and provided much of the inspiration for Maccabi Tel Aviv when they captured the 2001 SuproLeague crown in Paris.

Five years older, he still has plenty to offer and that was evident in the first 11 and a half minutes when he provided Girona with much of their offense, scoring 10 points and dishing out four assists.

After Victor Sada fed him with a pass and he drilled a three-ball with with 6:32 to go in the half, McDonald had 15 points.

The lead grew to its biggest at 55-34 after Marko Marinovic hit a jumper with 1:32 to go in the half and Girona were in total command.

Maccabi Rishon Lezion weren't about to roll over, though. After cutting the deficit to 55-38 by half-time, however, they still found Girona difficult to catch and the visitors held a 55-34 advantage near the end of the third quarter.

They chipped away and late in the fourth quarter, they reduced the arrears to eight points three times but Girona were too far ahead and eventually claimed a 10-point victory.