Maccabi Tel Aviv defeated Hapoel Jerusalem 88-71 as a strong second half from Oshae Brissett and Iffe Lundberg helped the yellow-and-blue advance to the Winner Cup Finals where they will meet Hapoel Tel Aviv in November. The reds took an early lead thanks to points from David Roddy, Devontae Cacok and Shake Milton but Keaton Wallace kept Maccabi close to head into halftime down by a lone point, 32-31. In the second half Oded Katash’s team moved in front as Brissett, Lundberg and Roman Sorkin filled the basket to take a double digit lead and cruise to the victory.

scored 17 points, Sorkin added 16 points, Lundberg put in 14 points and Jaylen Hoard scored 13 points in the win while Kenny Lofton Jr. scored 16 points, Milton scored 14 points as both Cacok and Roddy both put in 22 points each in the loss.

Maccabi Head Coach Oded Katash reflected on the win, “I’m very happy with the win after a double week both form the physical and mental standpoint. Im happy that guys had the energy and that was also due to the fans that we miss so much in the Euroleague. We were there the entire game and we had a good second half. We still need to start off games well and Jerusalem has built a very good team who were very tough with large guards as well. The last couple of games were tough and I hope that this win will also help us with our confidence.”

Jerusalem Head Coach Sasa Obradovic spoke about the game, “Maccabi deserved to win and while we played well in the first half, the second half saw their quality come out. This was our first serious opponent as they are a Euroleague team and we hasn’t played this level up until now. This game showed where we are and while the guys fought until the end, Maccabi was a physical team. Tactically they did a good job choosing which guys could break the game, Lundberg, Clark and Brissett who hurt us the most, they changed the game and against this type of opponent you need that type of physicality.”

Roman Sorkin talked about the win, “Jerusalem is an aggressive, quality team. We struggled, but we played well. We needed this win, but it feels like a broken record. It’s the start of the season and there’s a process that we’re learning. We need to improve from game to game and learn day by day because we don’t have many practices. It’s a game for a title and if we would have lost here in the semifinal we would have gone home.”

David Roddy spoke about the loss, “This was the first time for me and many of my teammates to be able to experience such a game. The fans came out and we enjoyed that as well. Maccabi is a good team and we tried to control what we could. They dominated the glass and got kick out 3-pointers. We are competing and our expectations are to win and there are bumps in the road but we will get over that hump. We will learn from our mistakes and grow as team.”

Jaylen Hoard went from the inside and outside for Maccabi Tel Aviv and David Roddy scored a pair of baskets for Hapoel Jerusalem to begin the game, Roman Sorkin found points in the paint, Shake Milton went from deep and Devontae Cacok put in a 3-point play to take the lead but Oshae Brissett scored at the buzzer to pull the yellow-and-blue to within 16-15 after ten minutes of play.

Eitan Burg went from deep while Milton came into the lane for a tough deuce to start off the second quarter, Sorkin broke the 9-0 run with a 3-point play, Keaton Wallace hit a pair from downtown and added a midrange, but a Milton 3-pointer kept Sasa Obradovic’s team in front 32-31 at halftime.

Brissett and Kenny Lofton Jr. traded baskets to get the third quarter underway, Sorkin dropped a 3-point play, Burg went from deep, Cacok dunked, Brissett went for a pair from downtown, Roddy came back with a corner 3-ball, TJ Leaf put in a couple of buckets and Jimmy Clark took it strong to the hole as Oded Katash’s team grabbed a 59-54 lead after thirty minutes of action.

Clark and Iffe Lundberg went from deep to begin the final frame, Hoard put in a deuce, Jaleen Smith came back to drain a 3-pointer and Roddy added points, but Lundberg drilled home another triple, Brissett dropped a deuce while Clark scored as well to wrap up the win.