Maccabi Tel Aviv defeated Hapoel Beer 106-90 as Jaylen Hoard and Roman Sorkin did as they pleased to help the yellow-and-blue take a 1-0 quaterfinal series lead. Oded Katash’s team came out strong as Hoard and Sorkin were dominant from the tip while Damian Dunn, Marquis Barnett and LJ Figueroa kept the southern reds close throughout the matchup cutting the lead down to just 3-points 57-54 in the third quarter.

But Hoard and Sorkin along with an active Tamir Blatt and Oshae Brissett bumped up the lead back to double digits to send Maccabi down to Beer Sheva on Wednesday where they can wrap up the series and advance to the semifinals. Hoard scored 20 points, Sorkin added 17 points while Brissett scored 14 points and Blatt dished out 11 assists in the win. Dunn scored 27 points as Richards and Barnett scored 16 points in the loss.

Maccabi Head Coach Oded Katash reflected on the win, “I’m happy we were able to win the game and we know it wasn’t an easy situation with a lot of pressure on us especially in a 3-game series. We didn’t play well enough and we didn’t execute the game plan as best as we could have as well as the body language and we have to improve on that in the next 48 hours.”

Beer Sheva Head Coach Yaniv Ravins spoke about the loss, “It was a very tough game against the best team in the league, we battled really hard and the guys played well despite having come late due to the traffic. I’m happy for the team and the club that we were able to represent well. I always believe that we can win and that I hope that the players feel the same way. The guys will want to prove themselves and we want to show that we deserve to be here.”

Will Rayman discussed the victory, “We started playing a little less selfishly and that was our identity. When we play that way we are very hard to beat so I’m very happy how we finished the game and I think we are going the right direction. Coach is totally right that we didn’t play a good game, our body language wasn’t there but we all have to think about that and come out with more energy as well as on a personal standpoint. We will come out and play harder to take game two and then have a rest before the next series.”

Damian Dunn looked back at the defeat, “I thought we fought on both ends of the floor, just some mistakes on the transition when we were on defense that we need to clean up. We have to watch the film and see where we can get better and trust the game plan, trust coach and go out there and execute.”

Jaylen Hoard and Roman Sorkin scored for Maccabi Tel Aviv while Damian Dunn and Marquis Barnett responded for Hapoel Beer Sheva, but the yellow-and-blue grabbed a 27-19 lead after ten minutes of play. Oshae Brissett and Gur Lavy began to fill the basket, Dunn answered for the southern reds, Lonnie Walker hit a pair from deep at the other end, LJ Figueroa began to cut down the lead but John Dibartolomeo nailed two triples to keep Oded Katash’s team in front 52-43 at halftime.

Isaiah Richards and Barnett began to chip away at the lead over the course of the third quarter, Sorkin found points but so did Dunn and Figueroa while Yoav Vitlem hit a jumper to period and pull Yaniv Ravins’ team to just 6-points down, 73-67 after thirty minutes of action. Tamir Blatt and Figueroa traded triples to begin the third quarter, Sorkin scored with ease inside the paint, Brissett put down a monster jam, Hoard scored at one end while Dunn tried to keep Beer Sheva in the game at the the other end but more points from deep by Will Rayman and Walker closed out the win.