Maccabi Tel Aviv demolished a hapless Hapoel Beer Sheva 91-58 to get back onto the winning track after a three game losing streak across all competitions. It was clear from the outset how overmatched the southern Reds were despite only being down 36-27 at halftime as Oded Katash’s squad led by Iftach Ziv outscored the hosts, 32-12 in the final frame and 55-31 over the course of the second half to wrap up the win.

Ziv scored 19 points, John Dibartolomeo added 12 points, Josh Nebo scored 11 points while Jalen Adams, Rafi Menco and Lorenzo Brown all checked in with 10 points in the win. Greg Whittington and Ben Moore each scored 14 points as Roie Paretzky scored 9 points in the loss.

“I didn’t feel that this was such a blowout for three quarters,” Maccabi coach Oded Katash said. “It’s not easy to play here and the players really reacted well and played well defensively. We have to learn from every game and it was a good message that we really played well on defense. We were also able to split the minutes up and that was something very important for us.”

“There were many open shots that we missed,” Beer Sheva bench boss Lior Lubin explained. Anytime that you play Maccabi it’s a big game. We made some nice baskets but in the situations where we needed to make shots and stay in the game we couldn’t.”

Josh Nebo looked back at the victory, “It was a good win for us and we were able to continue on building good habits by winning games on the road and it was a good step for us. We are working on defense as a team to be consistent as we had a goal to keep Beer Sheva under 70 points and we kept them under 60. We are very aware of our struggles on defense in the Euroleague.”

Roman Sorkin scored a pair inside for Maccabi Tel Aviv while Greg Whittington did the same for Hapoel Beer Sheva to get the proceedings underway as it was 4-4 midway through the first quarter. Jalen Adams and Rafi Menco found points for the yellow-and-blue, Whittington scored, Jarell Martin and David Efiyani traded triples as Bonzie Colson and Iftach Ziv nailed jumpers to give the visitors a 19-12 lead after ten minutes of play.

John Dibartolomeo put in a corner 3-ball as did Roie Paretzky at the other end to begin the second quarter, Nebo scored a 3-point play, Joaquin Szuchman went from deep for Lior Lubin’s team while Ziv and Jake Cohen went from downtown to bump the lead up to 33-18 with 5:15 left in the first half. Paretzky went from the inside, Adams scored from beyond the arc as did a red hot Paretzky but Oded Katash’s squad stayed in front 36-27 at halftime.

Menco went from beyond the arc as did Efiyani and Szuchman, Brown responded and Nebo dunked as Maccabi continued to lead 48-37 midway through the third quarter. Menco put down a corner 3-ball, Nebo added a pair of baskets in the paint, Whittington scored with a mini hook as Ziv cleaned up under the hoop to give the yellow-and-blue a double-digit, 59-46 lead after thirty minutes of action.

Brown hit a trio of free throws, Ben Moore found points inside for Lior Lubin’s team to open the fourth quarter, Dibartolomeo went from the inside and outside and Ziv did the same to pull ahead by over thirty points as Maccabi wrapped up the victory.

Nes Ziona slipped by Hapoel Gilboa Galil 94-90 on the road as both Tyler Bey and Shaq Buchanan each scored 30 points in the tight victory. Elad Hasin’s squad jumped out to a good start as DJ Cooper conducted the offense to perfection, but Payton Willis along with London Perrantes who was making his season debut helped Rami Hadar’s team take a late 83-82 lead with two minutes left in the game. However, a clutch triple by Bey along with baskets by Buchanan pushed the visitors over the finish line to take the win.

Bey and Buchanan each scored 30 points while DJ Cooper added 8 points and 15 assists in the victory. Willis paced Gilboa with 28 points while Perrantes added 14 points and 11 assists in the loss.

“I’m happy with the win and we made some nice plays near the end of the game,” Hasin said. “The game plan was to make sure that they didn’t take offensive rebounds and they took 22, not to hit 3-pointers and they scored 15. They came to play with their backs against the wall and they played with a lot of pride. We came into this game after a long trip and two games on the road with a lot of time on the bus. We had number of sick players but when you’re mentally strong and you have big heart, your body just follows.”

“The game came down to rebounding,” Bey said. “They had 20 offensive rebounds and we talked at halftime that we had to pick it up on the rebounds whether it’s a big or a guard. We did our part at the end of the game and rebound the ball.