Maccabi Tel Aviv cruised past Nes Ziona 96-73 as six yellow-and-blue players scored in double digits to take the game one win. Jaylen Hoard along with Roman Sorkin, Tamir Blatt and Jimmy Clark helped Maccabi Tel Aviv to a 41-39 lead at halftime as Bryce Brown and Jake Van Tubbergen countered for Nes Ziona, as Hoard, Blatt and Sorkin along with Rokas Jokubaitis continued to do the damage while Ricky Lindo attempted to keep the game close to no avail as the yellow-and-blue closed out the victory.

Hoard scored 17 points, Sorkin added 15 points, Clark scored 14 points and Jokubaitis put in 13 points in the win, while Lindo scored 17 points and Brown chipped in with 15 points in the loss.

“It took us time to get into the game and while we had the right energy,” Maccabi Tel Aviv Head Coach Oded Katash began. “We hadn’t played in a couple of weeks. We did the things that we know how to do well in the second half and while they hit in goo percentages in the first half we defended much better in the second.”

“We gave them momentum from our mistakes and quick shooting,” Nes Ziona Head Coach Amit Sherf said. “We didn’t play well in the second half and you have to play a perfect 40 minutes on both ends of the floor in order to win the game. Itay Segev helped us through the season and when you think about Maccabi you think about their size. Maybe we will make a change going forward.”

Jimmy Clark reflected on the win, “We knew we had a break to rest up and this was the first game back. Once we got into the flow, everything came together in the second half. Defense wins championship and thinking in that mindset is what we wanted to stick with, we know everyone is talented offensively but it’s those hustle plays that separates us.”

Jake Van Tubbergen looked back at the game, “It was a tough second half, we executed pretty well in the first half but you can’t lose the turnover battle the way we did. We have to regroup with our game plan and get ready for Thursday. As for the depth, we got Itay Segev back and we want to see him on the floor, but Maccabi has a lot of good players and we have what we have. We have to play our best and give our fight.”