Maccabi Tel Aviv downed Hapoel Haifa 102-87 as Jaylen Hoard continued his strong play from the Derby and David DeJulius was unstoppable in the fourth quarter with 21 of the squad’s 30 points to close out the win.

Rokas Jokubaitis and Marial Shayok got the ball rolling for the yellow-and-blue but Tyler Bey, Jon Davis, Amit Gershon and DeAndre Pinckney gave the Carmel reds a slim 2-point, 50-48 lead at halftime. However, more points from Shayok and Hoard along with John Dibartolomeo and DeJulius put Oded Katash’s team in front for good as they took the victory.

DeJulius scored 26 points, Hoard added 20 points, Jokubaitis scored 15 points and Shayok chipped in with 14 points in the win. Tyler Bey scored 22 points and Gershon put in 18 points in the loss.

“The first half was what we were worried about without energy,” Katash said. “We know the history of what happens after a high with the Derby and the fans along with the atmosphere. We decided to rest Levi Randolph and Tamir Blatt while Roman Sorkin wasn’t here after his stepfather passed away. I’m happy that in the second half that we pulled it together and were able to take the win.”

“When you come into a game with Maccabi Tel Aviv at Yad Eliyahu you have to get them at the right time, which it was since we played them after a Derby. You also have to really bring it at your best, which we did in the first half but in the second half our shots just weren’t falling,” assistant coach Ilan Amar explained.

David DeJulius reflected on the win, “We had to come out with better urgency and we were flat. They are a good team and they showed it as we have to do a better job of playing through 40 minutes. On a personal level I feel good seeing my coaches and teammates acknowledging my abilities and having the confidence in me in order to be able to give the performance that I was able to.”

Gil Noyovitch spoke about what has been an issue for Haifa, “We gave a good performance but once again our issue is defense and we need to improve that if we want to start winning games. It was very exciting for me to play here but in our situation we can’t be excited and we need focus on the next game because we need to get some wins. We had some good minutes and if we don’t play defense we won’t win.”

Rokas Jokubaitis cut to the hoop like a knife through hot butter, Marial Shayok hit a pair from deep and Jaylen Hoard dunked his own ball off the backboard for Maccabi Tel Aviv while Tyler Bey, Jon Davis and Amit Gershon with two triples answered for Hapoel Haifa to stay close 27-25 after ten minutes of play. Bey kept scoring at will, DeAndre Pinckney added points as well for the Carmel Reds while Rafi Menco, Jokubatis and Jake Cohen all went from downtown as Hoard jammed, Pinckney and Bey kept scoring to give Haifa a 50-48 lead at halftime.

Gershon hit from behind the arc to begin the third quarter, Hoard responded while Shayok went from downtown and John Dibartolomeo scored as well to give Oded Katash’s team a 72-66 lead after thirty minutes of action. David DeJulius nailed a pair from deep and addd a layup, Hoard scored inside while Menco and DeJulius kept filling the basket to close out the yellow-and-blue victory.