Maccabi Tel Aviv drops Afula, Herzliya tops Kiryat Ata

Jan 15, 2024 | Holyland Hoops

Maccabi Tel Aviv dropped Hapoel Afula 97-83 as five players finished in double digits to record the win. The yellow-and-blue had a full complement of imports for the game up in the Jezreel Valley for the first time in the Israeli league this season and that proved to be to much for the hosts as Oded Katash’s squad saw Josh Nebo and Roman Sorkin do the damage whole Antonius Cleveland sewed up the game late

Hapoel Afula and Maccabi Tel Aviv traded baskets as the game got underway with Lucas Goldenberg and Marcellus Earlington scoring for the hosts while Josh Nebo, Roman Sorkin and Rafi Menco doing the damage early as Wade Baldwin and James Webb put their mark on the first half to give the yellow-and-blue a 57-47 lead at halftime. Tamir Blatt, Antonius Cleveland and Nebo began to find the bucket early on in the second half, Earlington tried to keep Afula close, but Cleveland made sure that there would be no late game comeback as Maccabi salted away the win.

Cleveland scored 15 points, Nebo added 13 points while Webb and Blatt each had 11 points in the win. Marcellus Earlington scored 23 points and Lucas Goldenberg added 14 points in the loss.

Josh Nebo – Photo Credit: Yehuda Halickman


Josh Nebo, the game’s MVP spoke about returning to Israel and having the chance to play in the domestic league, “It feels great to play back in israel in front of the fans. It’s very important to us to play together with the team. I feel like playing with tanner is fun, he’s a great point guard.

“It’s great to get to play back here in Israel,” Oded Katash said. “I have to give the guys credit for the win. We had some good minutes in the second half and it’s great to have almost everyone together. The lack of playing time has hurt some of the players and now that we have Israeli league games that will help them out.”
Anytime you give up 97 points it’s going to be tough to win,” Afula coach Roie Perel said. “It’s not easy to play against Maccabi and it’s never going to be simple to do so as it’s just their flow a to how they play the game that makes it so tough. We did things that we could in proportion but we were also playing against Maccabi Tel Aviv.”

Marcus Carr – Photo credit: Basket.co.il


Bnei Herzliya defeated Kiryat Ata 87-74 as Marcus Carr scored 33 points to notch the victory. After a close first half that saw James Batemon, Amin Stevens and Akia Pruitt leading the way for Sharon Avrahami’s team, Ethan Burg, Tyler Stone and Carr with 22 fourth quarter points dominated the second half to take the win. Along with Carr’s 33 points, Burg added 15 points and Stone chipped in with 11 points in the win as Batemon scored 25 points along with Stevens and Pruitt each scoring 15 points in the defeat.

Sign up for our newsletter

0 Comments

You may also like…

Subscribe To Our Newsletter

Join our mailing list to receive the latest news and updates. 

You have Successfully Subscribed!