Maccabi Tel Aviv dropped Zalgiris 95-78 over the weekend in Euroleague action to get back onto the winning track after close to a month without a continental victory.
Oded Katash’s squad came out full of energy with their new center Trevion Williams in the lineup, as Rokas Jokubaitis scored with ease, as did Jaylen Hoard, who found points aplenty, but Deividas Sirvydis scored in bunches.
However, the yellow-and-blue stayed in the lead at halftime, 50-38. Levi Randolph and Roman Sorkin started filling the basket in the second half while Hoard and Jokubaitis joined them to run away with a 17-point win.
Hoard scored 23 points, while Jokubaitis and Sorkin scored 18 points apiece in the win. Sirvydis and Sylvain Francisco scored 15 points each, and Lonnie Walker added 14 points in the loss.
“I really like the reaction under the circumstances,” Katash said. “Last week we had some tough losses, and we reacted the right way. I really liked the body language and energy, and we needed it. Our situation has been really hard and almost impossible, but we try not to use excuses, and that is our challenge. That’s why I really liked how we played.”
“Maccabi deserved to win,” a disappointed Zalgiris coach Andrea Trinchieri said. “They played better, had better energy, and they destroyed us. It was a very bad night for us, and we embarrassed ourselves. All the good things we did, we just threw them in the garbage in a game where we didn’t compete. We didn’t have enough physical and mental energy to do the basic stuff. The whole team didn’t care enough. It’s extremely disappointing and delusional. It’s our worst game of the season and the wrong game to do it. I expect something more and something better. I tried to move the players, and nothing changed. It’s a strong, hard reality check.”
Hoard spoke about the victory for Maccabi.
“It was a really great game, and I was really happy with how we played defense because, in our last game, we had a tough loss in the Israeli league. We felt that we didn’t have enough fight and didn’t play well on defense, so we wanted to bounce back. I feel like we did a good job.”
Hapoel Tel Aviv victory
Over in Israeli league action, Hapoel Tel Aviv defeated a game Hapoel Galil Elyon 79-64 in a rough-and-tumble game that saw a bit of Israeli basketball history take place.
The hosts executed their game plan to a T in the first period, as Rawle Alkins helped lead the way for Galil Elyon to hold a 23-14 advantage after 10 minutes.
However, the visitors from Tel Aviv came right back in the second quarter and held Guni Izraeli’s team scoreless through halftime, while Yam Madar, Marcus Bingham, and Oz Blayzer handed Dimitrios Itoudis’s squad a 36-23 lead.
Bingham and Madar kept finding the bottom of the basket as the second half got underway. Marcus Carr, Yonatan Atias, and Alkins tried to keep the hosts close, but Ish Wainright scored at will in the final frame to sew up the victory.
Madar scored 17 points and dished out 11 assists, Bingham added 14 points, and Wainright scored 13 points in the win. Alkins and Carr each scored 17 points, and Atias chipped in with 8 points in the loss.
“You witnessed two different quarters in the first half,” Hapoel Tel Aviv coach Dimitrios Itoudis began. “In the first quarter, we were sloppy and defensively we were not present, gave a lot to Galil, and were down by nine. We spoke to the guys and put down some targets, and the fact that we kept them scoreless is something memorable for this league and in general for basketball, regardless of what level you’re playing. This is the first league in Israel. We showed that we could really defend at this level.”
“We began the game very well, and when we controlled the rebounds, we were able to run,” Galil Elyon’s Izraeli said. “In the second quarter, we set some history by not scoring, but they were very aggressive, and we missed some good shots. We tried to stop their run during the period, but it was very tough. We had a very good comeback in the second half and cut their lead to just two points, but we ran out of energy. However, there is a lot to take out of this game.”
Bingham spoke about the club’s win.
“It felt good to get back out there after a few games having not played. Shoutout to Galil – they didn’t quit, and they came into the game short-handed with some injured players. We had to play hard, and we came out with the victory, but they will pick up some good wins this season.”
Atias, who played significant minutes for the first time in the top league, spoke about the game from his point of view.
“It was very important for me to be able to contribute without center Lennard Freeman. It was incredible to play here with a huge crowd and great atmosphere. Playing against the top players is what it’s all about, and it’s quite amazing. It’s hard to miss what happened in the second quarter when we didn’t score, but we came back in the third quarter and cut down the lead to stay in the game.”
Meanwhile, Hapoel Haifa downed Hapoel Beersheba 87-81 as JaKeenan Gant and Amit Gershon came back to haunt their old club and help the Carmel Reds to their first win in a couple of months.
The Southern Reds came out strong and grabbed a 15-2 lead, as Paul Scruggs and Ray Spalding paced the hosts. However, the visitors cut the gap, as Gant, Gershon, and Tyler Bey headed into halftime down by only three points, 42-39.
Bey, Gant, and Gershon kept scoring for Haifa, while Spencer Weisz and Iverson Molinar found points for Beersheba. Daniel Rosenbaum hit a key basket, while Gil Noyovitch also found critical points to wrap up the win.
Gant scored 24 points, Gershon added 21 points, and Bey chipped in with 16 points in the win. Scruggs scored 19 points, Molinar put in 14 points, and Weisz scored 13 points in the loss.