Maccabi Tel Aviv walloped Hapoel Galil Elyon 113-82 as six players finished in double digits in the blowout win. The yellow-and-blue dominated the matchup from the outset taking an 18-point lead at halftime on stellar shooting on the inside and from the outside led by Khyri Thomas and Derrick Williams while Iftach Ziv and Roman Sorkin helped propel Avi Even’s team to finish off the 31-point victory.

Sorkin led the way with 21 points, Thomas added 17 points, Ziv scored 16 points while Williams drilled 4 triples for 16 points in the win as well. Ike Iroegbu paced Galil with 19 points, Chavaughn Lewis scored 13 points and Nimrod Levi added 10 points in the defeat.

“I’m happy we brought the right energy to the game and it began with the defense,” Maccabi coach Avi Even explained. “We stopped their pick and roll and in most cases we controlled the rebounds. We translated that to easy points. Our in ball defense was great and we will continue to improve.”

“Maccabi is a better team, but we have to now put this one behind us,” Galil coach Barak Peleg said. “We have to begin focusing on playing against the other teams and win. We had a tough time with our defense and then things went down from there.”

Khyri Thomas also discussed the victory from his viewpoint, “Absolutely this was my best game. I’ve been hard on myself and I want to prove myself. I put some pressure on myself and we took some losses that we shouldn’t have. But we were all bought in and despite the win versus Nes Ziona we weren’t satisfied. We knew we could play better.”

Khyri Thomas scored early for Maccabi Tel Aviv as the guard hit a pair of triples but Nimrod Levi, DJ Kennedy and Ike Iroegbu all scored to give Hapoel Galil Elyon a 16-12 lead midway through the first quarter. Derrick Williams went from deep, Scottie Wilbekin scored a one handed off the glass and Jalen Reynolds all found points while Iftach Ziv did as well, while Iroegbu continued to fill the basket with a 3-pointer to end the period but the yellow-and-blue led 28-22 after ten minutes of play.

Thomas and Ziv got the second quarter off to a fast start as Roman Sorkin scored in the paint as well to keep Maccabi in front 40-29 with 5:21 left in the first half. Derrick Williams nailed a comer 3-ball and a deuce, Bryce Washington scored at the other end, Sorkin put down a dunk while Blayzer and Wilbekin scored as well to give Avi Even’s troops a 56-38 advantage.

Williams and Keenan Evans drilled home triples to get the third quarter underway, Kennedy scored from downtown but Ziv and Reynolds jammed and Ziv hit a 3-pointer to end the frame and give Maccabi a 86-62 lead after thirty minutes of action.

Cohen, Thomas and Sorkin started off the fourth quarter with points, Galil Elyon’s youngsters Yuval Levin and Ron Cohen responded for the visitors but Sorkin dunked to put Maccabi over the century mark, Blayzer went from deep and Oded Brandwein added points to get everyone on the board in the 31-point victory.