Maccabi Tel Aviv defeated a game Hapoel Galil Elyon 88-77 as they punched their ticket to the Israel State Cup semifinal where they will tipoff against Hapoel Tel Aviv. The yellow-and-blue used lock down defense in the second half long with evenly distributed scoring to comeback from an 11-point first half deficit to take the victory and set up a third Derby in less two months.

Itay Moskovitz, Bryce Washington and Ike Iroegbu helped the hosts open up a double digit first half lead but Scottie Wilbekin, Iftach Ziv, Keenan Evans and Derrick Williams helped Ioannis Sfairopoulos’s squad cut away at the advantage and put Maccabi in front over the course of the final twenty minutes to take the win.

Wilbekin led the yellow-and-blue with 16 points and 4 assists, Evans added 13 points while Iftach Ziv and Derrick Williams each chipped in with 10 points in the victory. Moskovitz scored 18 points and Iroegbu added 13 points in the loss.

“For the most part offensively we were good in the first half but defensively it was a disaster,” Maccabi coach Ioannis Sfairopoulos said following the game. “At halftime we discussed that we needed to play better defense and we knew that would bring us back into the game. Our defense didn’t allow them to play their game and forced 11 turnovers in the second half.”

“The first half we played together and the second half we played individually and that was the entire difference and that is what disappointed me,” Galil Elyon coach Barak Peleg said. “We aren’t talented enough to win games like that and when we didn’t play together we fell apart.”

Game MVP Scottie Wilbekin said, “It was a crazy game we didn’t play any defense in the first half and we did in the second half. I have no idea why but they were making some tough shots and they got some offensive rebounds. Coach just said at halftime that we needed to play better and we wanted to play better for ourselves. We know how good a team we are and we knew we had to play better in the second half.”

Hapoel Galil Elyon got off to a hot start as Chavaughn Lewis filled the basket while Nimrod Levi and Ike Iroegbu went from long distance to grab a 13-7 lead midway through the first quarter. Khyri Thomas drilled home a pair of triples as did Scottie Wilbekin while Iftach Ziv added a couple of baskets, Bryce Washington in the paint and Levi put down a dunk but Jake Cohen scored inside to give Maccabi Tel Aviv a 29-27 lead after ten minutes of end to end action.

Iroegbu opened the second quarter with a 3-pointer as Itay Moskovitz scored a pair as well while Washington and Gabi Chachashvili scored as well to give Barak Peleg’s squad a 40-33 lead with 5:50 left in the first half. Derrick Williams put in a jumper, Wilbekin nailed a corner 3-ball but Isaiah Eisendorf found points inside after grabbing an offensive board and Karam Mashour also scored to send Galil Elyon into halftime holding a 54-43 advantage.

Cohen began the third quarter with points off of the glass, Ante Zizic put in a mini-hook bit Iroegbu hit a 3-pointer at the other end but Wilbekin and Keenan Evans added baskets to cut the lead to 57-53 midway through the period. Zizic, Cohen and Wilbekin scored in the paint, Evans dialed up long distance Ziv jammed the ball and Roman Sorkin added a bucket at the buzzer as Ioannis Sfairopoulos’s squad grabbed a 69-61 lead after thirty minutes of play.

Evans and Sorkin added to the yellow-and-blue lead to get the fourth quarter underway as Wilbekin hooked up with Williams for an alley-oop to bump the lead up to 80-61 with six minutes remaining in the frame. Moskovitz and Lewis found points for Galil Elyon but Williams came back down with a dunk as Maccabi cruised to the 11-point victory.