Israel downed Auburn 95-86 as Deni Avdija starred for the blue-and-white in their first exhibition game ahead of the Eurobasket tournament and World Cup qualifiers which begin at the end of the August. The Washington Wizards forward dominated the game at times as he scored at will in the third quarter with 14 of his game high 25 points before fouling out late in the fourth quarter.

Both teams played neck and neck throughout the first half as Guy Goodes’s star guard Yam Madar paced the offense for Israel while Wendell Green Jr. and Yohan Traore did the damage for Bruce Pearl’s Auburn as the hosts took a 43-41 lead into the second half.

Avdija went off in the third frame as he did as he pleased against an outmatched Auburn defense but the visitors came storming back at the start of the final frame to close the gap to just 1 point, 68-67. However, Jake Cohen with 11 points in the fourth quarter along with an active Roman Sorkin made sure to secure the 9-point victory to begin Israel’s exhibition slate of games.

Avdija led all scorers with 25 points, 7 rebounds and 6 assists, Yam Madar scored 24 points, grabbed 7 boards and dished out 7 assists, Jake Cohen added 17 points and 7 rebounds and Roman Sorkin scored 14 points in the win. Wendell Green Jr. paced Auburn with 19 points, Johni Broome added 18 points and 11 rebounds as Zep Jasper and KD Johnson each scored 11 points in the defeat.

“I’m satisfied overall in a game against a different type of team that presses full court and is very aggressive,” Israel coach Guy Goodes began. “However, we handled it well and won the game. I’m not so satisfied with the way we rebounded and our defense which is something tha has been an issue for us in previous games. These are the things we need to improve on over the next few weeks.”

Auburn Coach Bruce Pearl reflected on the three games in Israel before heading back to the United States, “The biggest takeaway for me is that we’ve got 12 good basketball players, maybe even 13. We were fortunate this year that the Israel National Team was preparing for a tournament and that we were able to play them as this is the caliber of team that college teams will want to play.”

The game MVP Deni Avdija also looked back on the national team’s win, “First thing which is most important is that we had fun and I believe everyone had fun in this first exhibition game together. It take time to build chemistry but we know what we are doing and we are going to fight. All in all we were able to play well.”

“Auburn is a great team,” Roman Sorkin said. “It was good to practice our plays and play together. It is the first week of August and a lot of the guys just arrived at training camp on Sunday. Our goal over the next number of weeks is to make sure that we will be ready by the end of the month for World Cup qualifying and then the European championships.”

“It was fun just to go out there and compete against some pros, some older guys,” Wendell Green Jr. said. “We went out there and played hard. We didn’t get the result we wanted, but we’ll take it and work in the fall leading up to November. It was a great experience for us.”

Deni Avdija opened the game with a triple for Israel while Yam Madar followed it up with a pair of his own to give the blue-and-white a 10-6 lead midway through the first quarter. Chris Moore scored in bunches inside for Bruce Pearl’s squad as Nimrod Levi drained a 3-pointer to end the frame all knotted up at 20-20.

Wendell Green Jr. and Zep Jasper helped Auburn open up a bit of a lead while Avdija and Madar kept Guy Goodes’s team close as the Americans stayed in front 29-26 with 5:59 remaining in the second quarter. Avdija began to take control for Israel as he went strong to the basket and created for teammates, while Jake Cohen scored inside to put Israel ahead 43-41 at halftime.

Avdija for Israel and Moore for Auburn continued to pace their respective teams as the hosts remained in the lead 49-47 midway through the third quarter. Avdija with an open court dunk, a long triple, another dunk plus a reverse jam sent Israel into the final frame holding a 10-point, 68-58 lead.

Auburn’s KD Johnson knocked down a quartet of free throws while Moore added a pair as well but Cohen found the basket to keep Israel up 74-67 with 6:00 left in the fourth quarter. Cohen continued to pour in the buckets while Roman Sorkin reached double digits as well to help Israel notch the win.