Maccabi Tel Aviv defeated Baskonia 89-83 to record their third win of the season as TJ Leaf put in his best effort of the campaign to help the yellow-and-blue to the win that improves their record to 3-8.
Lonnie Walker – Photo credit: Dragan Tasic
Lonnie Walker, TJ Leaf and Roman Sorkin scored for Maccabi Tel Aviv to begin the game while Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot responded for Baskonia but Leaf with a triple as the first quarter came to and end gave the yellow-and-blue a lead. Jeff Dowtin Jr. scored, Clement Frisch went fro deep, Jaylen Hoard scored a pair of buckets, Kobi Simmons tried to keep Bakonia in the game but more points from Leaf sent the yellow-and-blue into halftime with a 53-43 advantage.
Jeff Dowtin Jr. – Photo credit: Dragan Tasic
Simons, Luwawu-Cabarrot and Hamidou Diallo scored to open the second half, Jimmy Clark countered from the outside and inside, Tadas Sedekersis put in points but a basket at the end of the third quarter from Roman Sorkin gave Oded Katash’s squad a 71-68 lead. Leaf scored a pair from beyond the arc and dunked as well, Clark went from deep and Sorkin put in a 3-point play as Maccabi never looked back and recorded the win.
TJ Leaf – Photo credit: Dragan Tasic
“I liked the way we played,” Maccabi Tel Aviv Head Coach Oded Katash began. “I liked the way we reacted after the loss. Even after the last game it wasn’t easy for us after losing so many tight games. But hopefully this game will give us confidence as we executed our game plan for the majority of minutes in the game.”
The MVP TJ Leaf spoke about the victory, “We have a lot of new guys and it takes time and there were lapses where we didn’t look like team but we got the win and that is what matters. It’s going to continue to take time to build that chemistry.”
Roman Sorkin also reflected on the game, “I think we controlled most of the game but we did have a rime where they had a run and we had to show character ti get back into the game. It was an important win for us after four losses in a row. We are a new team and we just want to get as many wins as we can as I think everyone is as important for a new team and we want to continue to build on this.”
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