Maccabi Tel Aviv defeated Hapoel Holon 86-84 to take home the WINNER Cup, the first title of the 2020/21 season. Holon played a superb first 25 minutes and led 57-50 midway through the third quarter, but that’s when Omri Casspi entered the game and led Ioannis Sfairopoulos’s squad on a 20-6 run with a trio of 3-pointers to go ahead 67-63 and take the win.

Scottie Wilbekin – Photo Credit Dov Halickman

Scottie Wilbekin scored 16 points, Angelo Caloiaro notched 15 points and Omri Casspi dropped 14 points in the win. Tyrus McGee was almost unstoppable as the guard scored 28 points, while Frederic Bourdillon and Maxim De Zeeuw each scored 11 points in the loss.

Tip-off – Photo Credit Dov Halickman

Angelo Caloiaro found points for Maccabi Tel Aviv to start the first quarter but CJ Harris and Tyrus McGee went from downtown to give Hapoel Holon an early 14-9 lead. Maxim De Zeeuw worked the outside and Willy Workman the inside while Isaiah Miles scored from beyond the arc as Stefanos Dedas’s squad grabbed a 28-18 advantage after ten minutes.

John DiBartolomeo – Photo Credit Dov Halickman

John DiBartolomeo and Ante Zizic scored inside for the yellow-and-blue while Omri Casspi hit a triple but De Zeeuw and Frederic Bourdillon scored from deep as Holon stayed in front 34-27 with 5:33 remaining in the second quarter. Caloiaro scored from downtown but Bourdillon matched him twice at the other end, however, buckets by Scottie Wilbekin and Elijah Bryant kept Ioannis Sfairopoulos’s team hanging around but down by 8-points, 48-40 at halftime.

Bender and De Zeeuw – Photo Credit Dov Halickman

Workman and McGee got things going for Holon to begin the third quarter as Blayzer, Caloiaro and Wilbekin countered for Maccabi as the Purples continued to lead 55-48 midway through the frame. Miles scored and off balance jumper at the end of the shot clock and Harris cut through the Maccabi defense like a hot knife through butter, but points from Bryant, Bender and a trio of triples by Casspi put the yellow-and-blue ahead 67-63 after thirty minutes of action.

Omri Casspi – Photo Credit Dov Halickman

McGee and Zizic traded baskets and Harris went from long distance to open the fourth quarter. Bourdillon scored a step back while Wilbekin out in a floater as Maccabi stayed in front 73-71 with four minutes left in regulation time. Bender put in a layup off a timeout and Wilbekin hit a floater for Maccabi but were matched again by Miles with a triple and points by McGee as Holon cut the lead to 82-81. However, free throws by Wilbekin and Bryant sealed the 86-84 victory to capture the WINNER Cup.