Maccabi Tel Aviv overwhelms Rishon, Nes Ziona drops Gilboa, Holon stops Herzliya – Highlights, Recaps, Quotes Inside

Nov 21, 2021 | Holyland Hoops

Maccabi Tel Aviv blasted Maccabi Rishon 86-56 as the yellow-and-blue had perhaps one of their easiest wins of the season as every player who featured scored in the victory. Ioannis Sfairopoulos’s squad bounced back strong after having been humbled by Olympiacos in Euroleague play last Friday as they jumped all over Guy Goodes’s team from the get go and set the tone early going ahead 19-9 after the opening period as the ran away with the win.

Oz Blayzer led the way for Maccabi with 20 points, while Keenan Evans, Ante Zizic and Roman Sorkin each added 12 points in the win. Maurice Kemp scored 13 points and Kris Clyburn chipped in with 12 points in the loss.

Ante Zizic – Photo Credit: Basket.co.il


“After a bad game we needed a good game today and that’s what really happened,” Sfairopoulos said following the win. “We started the game very concentrated in order to disorganize our opponents and we had a doubled digit lead after the first quarter. We dominated the game and had a great game offensive and defensively. From the mindset we had, we made the game look easy.”

The start of the game really influenced the balance of the matchup,” an embattled Goodes said. “Although we held Maccabi to only 19 points in the first quarter we had a problem scoring and the game got away from us quickly as the guys just broke down.”

Scottie Wilbekin – Photo Credit: Basket.co.il


Ante Zizic and Angelo Caloiaro scored inside while Scottie Wilbekin found points from the outside for Maccabi Tel Aviv while Kris Clyburn and Tu Holloway countered for Maccabi Rishon Le’Zion but the visitors stayed in from 13-7 midway through the first quarter. Oz Blayzer cleaned up a rebound off the glass for Ioannis Sfairopoulos’s squad and added another two points to give the yellow-and-blue a 19-9 lead after ten minutes.

Netanel Artzi – Photo Credit: Basket.co.il


Roman Sorkin began the second quarter with points in the paint, Netanel Artzi went from deep and Clyburn scored for Guy Goodes’s team while Kameron Taylor put in his first points of the game as the pace picked up after a slow first frame. Iftach Ziv fed Blayzer for an alley-oop while the forward added another basket and then a 3-pointer as Sorkin put down points and John DiBartolomeo went from deep to bump up the Maccabi Tel Aviv advantage to 43-22 at halftime.

Iftach Ziv – Photo Credit: Basket.co.il


Keenan Evans got the third quarter underway with a trio of triples and a layup as Holloway and Maurice Kemp tried to keep the score respectable but Angelo Caloiaro and Ziv also added points to keep Maccabi in front 58-26 midway through the period. Kemp continued to find the bottom of the basket, Ziv came back with points of his own, Sorkin scored as well as did DiBartolomeo with a reverse layup to give the yellow-and-blue a 69-39 lead after thirty minutes of play.

The fourth quarter featured garbage time galore as Kemp and Oded Brandwein traded baskets to start the period off while Blayzer knocked down a trio of 3-pointers to allow Maccabi to run away with the 30-point win.

Nes Ziona downed Hapoel Gilboa Galil 89-78 as center Tim Soares was way too much for the hosts to handle inside up in Gan Ner. Lior Lubin returned to the Galilee to face his former club for the first time and grabbed an early 28-21 lead after the first quarter thanks to Soares who scored 33 points and snatched 14 rebounds and never looked back as the visitors cruised to the victory. Along with Soares, Dianne Garrett added 20 points and Frank Bartley scored 19 points in the win. Derek Cooke led Gilboa with 16 points, Sacha Killeya-Jones scored 14 points and Ronnie Harrell chipped in with 13 points in the loss.

“It was a really big win for us on the road,” Frank Bartley said. “We played together and rebounded at a high level. Great for us going into this FIBA break on a high note!”

Tim Soares – Photo Credit: Basket.co.il


The guard also commented on the game’s MVP Tim Soares as well. “Tim obviously played an amazing game tonight. Did all the little things and got good looks at the basket early on and he was on fire from there. He rebounded really well tonight. That’s the beauty of our team. Any given night any one of guys can have a big game within the team concept.“

Hapoel Holon defeated Bnei Herzliya 89-77 after coming back from a 24-15 first quarter deficit thanks to rarely used guard Eidan Alber to record the victory. With Niv Misgav out for a number of weeks due to an injury, Alber stepped up with 14 points after Maurizio Buscaglia’s club fell into a hole to help the hosts to the victory. In addition to his 14 points, Alber also added 4 rebounds and 5 assists, while Stevan Gray scored 20 points and Michale Kyser chipped in with 14 points and 10 rebounds as well in the win. Quinton Hooker paced Oren Aharoni’s team with 19 points, Chris Babb added 13 points and Shawn Dawson scored 12 points in the loss.

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