Maccabi Tel Aviv crushed ALBA Berlin 103-85 to get back onto the winning track after having lost 4 games in a row to move their Euroleague record to 4-8 good for 15th place. Rokas Jokubaitis set the tone early with four straight baskets as the yellow-and-blue quickly grabbed a 16-2 lead and never looked back as the Lithuanian guard, who set a career high in points with 24 along with Jaylen Hoard, David DeJulius and Will Rayman helped Oded Katash’s squad to the victory.

Next up will be an Israeli league clash on Saturday night against Maccabi Ramat Gan and then a pair of continental clashes against Paris and Barcelona at their home away from home in Belgrade due to the security situation in Israel.

Jokubaitis scored 24 points, Hoard added 18 points and DeJulius put in 14 points in the win. Spagnolo scored 16 points in the win while Elias Rapieque scored 14 points in the loss.

“We really needed this win and we deserved it,” Maccabi Tel Aviv head coach Oded Katash said. “I take nothing for granted but we played well and we did most of the things that we wanted to. They were missing a lot players but this was a very important win for us. Both teams played high paced basketball and we had a high scoring game, but we have plenty to improve on and we will do so going forward. We have a league game coming up and then a very intense double week but we will take this win and gain confidence from it.”

“We played very badly at the beginning of the game,” ALBA Head Coach Israel Gonzalez. “We missed easy baskets, open shots and made bad turnovers. We were able to score 85 points playing very badly and we have to clearly improve our defense and we didn’t play that well. If aren’t ready you can’t win.”

The game MVP Rokas Jokubaitis spoke about the win, “We waited for this for a long time. I’m happy for myself, the fans and Maccabi. I want to thank the fans who are watching us on TV. I hope we build up from this win. It’s an amazing feeling and these games are extra motivation to be even more.”

Jaylen Hoard also looked back at the victory, “We came in bringing the right energy. We had to reset and we want to turn things around. They have talent and we played hard as they like to push the ball but we did a good job. It feels good to get the win.”

Rokas Jokubaitis had the hot hands to begin the game as the Lithuanian guard scored a quartet of baskets and then sent Jaylen Hoard a terrific pass for a reverse dunk while the big man added a 3-pointer to give Maccabi Tel Aviv a 16-2 lead midway through the first quarter. Hoard with a layup and Will Rayman with a triple and a deuce kept piling in the points, Roman Sorkin found the basket, Hoard dunked and David DeJulius hit a 3-pointer to give the yellow-and-blue a 32-16 lead after ten minutes of play.

David McCormack scored a pair of baskets to begin the second quarter, Jokubaitis and Sorkin came back with points, Malte Delow and Mateo Spagnolo scored for Israel Gonzalez’s club to cut the lease to 36-28 with 5:51 left in the first half. Gabriel Procida scored, Jasiel Rivero went from deep, Yanni Wetzel came right back with points, Jokubaitis put in a 3-point play, McCormack scored for the hosts, DeJulius dropped a pair of deuces and then added a triple to end off the half and give the yellow-and-blue a 52-36 advantage.

Spagnolo and Jokubaitis traded points to begin the third quarter, Wenyen Gabriel and Wetzell did the same while Procida and Jokubaitis also scored one after the next as Hoard went from the inside and outside to keep Oded Katash’s team in control with a 65-50 lead midway through the period. Gabriel and Rayman found the basket, Hoard scored as well while Rayman set his Euroleague career high in points with a 3-pointer and give Maccabi a 77-56 lead afetr thirty minutes of action.

Points from deep were the name of the game to get the fourth quarter off and running as Trevion Williams hit a pair and Tim Schneider nailed one as well for ALBA while Marial Shayok and DeJulius did the same for Maccabi, Sorkin and Elias Rapieque scored as the visitors stayed in front 90-74 with five minutes remaining in regulation time. Spagnolo and Jokubaitis traded buckets, Hoard found points as did Gabriel to close out the win.