Maccabi Tel Aviv eased past Bnei Herzliya 94-74 to win their Israel basketball league season opener in style as all 11 players who took to the court scored in the victory. Roman Sorkin did as he pleased throughout the first half for Maccabi Tel Aviv while Jasiel Rivero and Omer Mayer scored as well as Adrian Banks tried to keep Bnei Herzliya close but the yellow-and-blue took a 46-33 advantage into halftime. Sorkin continued to dominate above the rim with dunks galore while Rivero as well as Rafi Menco and 17-year old Omer Mayer wrapped up the win.

Sorkin led all scorers with 21 points and 10 rebounds, Rivero added 17 points, Menco scoured 10 points and grabbed 11 boards while Mayer chipped in with 9 points. Reggie Lynch scored 14 points as Adrian Banks and Willy Workman each scored 13 points in the loss.

“To come back and play in the Israeli league is good,” Maccabi head coach Oded Katash said. “We had a program last night with these affected by the war, lost loved ones or were held hostage and while we are returning to play things are still not normal. We hope all the hostages will return home soon. This game allowed us as a team to deal with some things in order to be ready for our Euroleague game on Thursday. We are taking this situation step by step as each week won’t be the same as the last but we will need everyone in order to win.”

“There are no excuses, this wasn’t a good game from us the minute we stepped onto the court,” Herzliya coach Dan Shamir said. “When things go the wrong way there is frustration and there is a lot of work to do. I am not angry but I am disappointed like everyone else. We aren’t playing basketball that will give us a chance to win.”
The game MVP Roman Sorkin looked back at the game, “We missed israel and the local league and we hope that all of the hostages will return home as soon as possible. We have some new players and there is a system that we have so it is important for us to have these games in order to improve which we do so every game, it’s part of how we improve.”

Hapoel Eilat sunk Hapoel Afula 94-80 as the Red Sea squad controlled the pace of play thanks to superb showings from Sacar Anim and Elijah Stewart from the outset to collect the victory. Anim led all scorers with 21 points, Stewart added 18 points, Deishuan Booker put in 17 points as Andrew Smith checked in with a 14 point and 11 rebound double-double in the win. Marcellus Earlington scored 17 points and Lucas Goldenberg added 15 points in the defeat.