It wasn’t easy but Maccabi Tel Aviv downed a feisty Hapoel Beer Sheva 71-64 as Scottie Wilbekin led the fourth quarter charge to take the victory. The southern reds took the game to the yellow-and-blue early with fine by play by Dererk Pardon and Junior Etou and led by 5 points heading into the decisive final frame. However, Christoforos Livadiotis’s squad couldn’t hold on as Wilbekin with 10 points down the stretch was just enough Ioannis Sfairopoulos’s team to take care of Beer Sheva.

Oz Blayzer and Wilbekin each scored 16 points while Keenan Evans added 15 points and 7 assists in the win. Pardon led the way for Beer Sheva with 17 points, Etou added 16 points and Cody Demps chipped in with 13 points in the lo

“I congratulated the players as it’s not easy to play a game after a loss that we wanted to be a win,” Sfairopoulos said following the victory. “Defensively we were excellent and our offense was a bit slow in the third quarter. When we scored the 2-3 shots in a row in the fourth quarter, we ended up winning the game. I am happy how the players reacted and they showed a different mentality. I want to thank the fans as they were with us when we were down and they helped us to the win.”

“I’m here for a short time but the management has made me feel very comfortable and that’s why I was able to give the players something extra,” Livadiotis said. “We wanted to fight until the end and we did extremely well with second chance points and the transition game. Coach Rami did an great job on the defense side of the game and the guys had a great fighting spirit, but we were out of gas in the last five minutes.”

Junior Etou scored early on in the first quarter for Hapoel Beer Sheva while Ante Zizic matched him in the paint for Maccabi Tel Aviv but baskets by Amir Bell and Cody Demps cancelled out Oz Blayzer’s efforts to help the visitors to a 21-16 lead after ten minutes.

Dererk Pardon and Demps found points for Christoforos Livadiotis‘s squad to keep them in front but Blayzer and Keenan Evans answered back for Ioannis Sfairpoulos’s team as Maccabi grabbed a 36-34 advantage at halftime.

Pardon and Etou took the game to Maccabi in the third quarter as Zizic and Jake Cohen tried to keep close the yellow-and-blue close but Beer Sheva held a 51-46 lead after thirty minutes of play.

Scottie Wilbekin and Blayzer quickly put Maccabi into the lead and Evans added points but Pardon and Etou matched them at the other end as the hosts held onto a 59-58 lead midway through the period. Derrick Williams powered in a bucket, Pardon countered but Wilbekin went from downtown and then fed Zizic for an alleyoop while Evans drilled a triple as Maccabi escaped with the 7-point win.