Maccabi Tel Aviv pummelled Hapoel Jerusalem 104-80 in the first Israeli Classico of the season as Scottie Wilbekin helped lead the hosts on a 15-0 run to begin the second quarter and never looked back to run away with the blowout win.

Wilbekin with 18 points was the high scorer for Ioannis Sfairopoulos’s squad while Jalen Reynolds added 15 points as Oz Blayzer and Roman Sorkin each checked in with 14 points in the win. Retin Obasohan led Jerusalem with 21 points, Kaiser Gates chipped in with 12 points and Sean Kilpatrick scored 9 points in the loss.

Sean Kilpatrick and Scottie Wilbekin traded buckets to get the Israeli Classico off and running, while Adam Ariel and Wilbekin each hits triples as Maccabi Tel Aviv took a 7-5 lead midway through the first quarter. Iftach Ziv got his first points of the game as did Roman Sorkin while Kaiser Gates and Ariel answered right back but Ziv hit a jumper in the paint and swished a triple as James Nunnally also got into the action to give the yellow-and-blue a 22-16 lead.

Wilbekin hit an acrobatic 3-pointer while being fouled to get the second quarter underway, John DiBartolomeo added points and Wilbekin drilled home another triple to bump the lead up to 30-16 with 7:55 left in the period. Dibartolomeo drained a corner 3-pointer, Jalen Reynolds put in a baby hook and then went from downtown but Anthony Bennett playing in his first Israeli league game scored in the paint and Gates added points as well to halt a 15-0 run by Maccabi.

Bennett put down a dunk but so did Sorkin at the other end as Kilpatrick and Retin Obasohan tried to keep Oren Amiel’s squad in the game, however, free throws by Oz Blayzer, Derrick Williams and Nunnally gave the hosts a 52-36 advantage.

Jalen Adam scored a layup to begin the third quarter but Wilbekin got right back to work with a pair of 3-pointers, Williams scored a jumper in the paint and Sorkin went from downtown to widen the gap to 64-39 midway through the frame. Obasohan scored two from beyond the arc, Nunnally and Evans each hit one as well, Itay Segev put down a dunk for the Reds, Gershon and Ariel scored triples but Blayzer went from deep and Reynolds scored a turn around jumper to keep the yellow-and-blue in full control up 79-57 after thirty minutes of action.

Oded Brandwein dialled up from long distance to get the fourth quarter underway while Reynolds and Blayzer added points as Obasohan tried to keep the score respectable as Jerusalem were down 87-69 with 6:10 remaining in regulation time. Reynolds with a block sent Maccabi off and running as Blayzer slammed home a monster dunk and kept on scoring to help the hosts cruise to the victory.