Maccabi Tel Aviv dropped Hapoel Holon 79-72 as Roman Sorkin returned to action to lead the yellow-and-blue with 21 points after the loss of his stepfather last week. Oded Katash’s squad jumped out to an early lead as Sorkin and Jaylen Hoard scored at will as Elijah Mitrou-Long tried to keep the purples close but went into halftime down 45-35. Netanel Artzi and Michale Kyser started cutting into the lead but Levi Randolph, Tamir Blatt and Hoard closed out the game for the yellow-and-blue.

Sorkin scored 21 points, Hoard added 13 points and Randolph scored 11 points in the win. Kyser and Mitrou-Long both scored 15 points and Artzi chipped in with 14 points in the loss.

“We started the game well and controlled the pace of play as we really were playing our game,” Maccabi Tel Aviv Head Coach Oded Katash said. “The difference in the game was the rebounds and our advantage inside with our big men. We had to play some of our guards in certain lineups and it wasn’t a simple game but we were able to take the win.”

“We didn’t have enough and we didn’t shoot well from the outside,” Hapoel Holon bench boss Guy Goodes began. “The game was close and we needed to make the right plays in order to find a way to win. Once we weren’t able to do that we weren’t going to be able to take the game.”

Levi Randolph spoke about the win and how the team keep positive despite not getting the results that they want to in Euroleague play, “Coach has been preaching to us that this season is a new team and there is a process with all new guys and we learning each day. We have a lot of film sessions and in this game we were able to overcome that hump where we kept the lead and hopefully we can take that into the Euroleague. We can be a great team if we can win those games.”

Michale Kyser looked back at the game that was along with the purples BCL game this week, “Kudos to Maccabi Tel Aviv. They came out with a lot of energy and grabbed more rebounds, we tried to play catch-up after that on the second half. We are upset but we will learn from it and now it’s on to the BCL where we have to try to focus on coach’s game plan. We lost to them by 6 points in our first game and we have to go in and play defense and focus on that win the game and then see how the cards fall how they may.”

Netanel Artzi and Elijah Mitrou-Long both went from deep for Hapoel Holon, Jaylen Hoard hit a fadeaway and Tamir Blatt added a deuce as well for Maccabi Tel Aviv to get the game off and running, Michale Kyser and and Iftach Ziv scored to give the joists a 14-9 lead midway through the first quarter. Roman Sorkin scored, Mitrou-Long did the same, Hoard dunked off a Sorkin missed mini-hook, Blatt and Sorkin went from deep and dunked to give the yellow-and-blue a 25-20 lead after ten minutes of play.

Adams scored to begin the second quarter, Mike Davis Jr. and Rafi Menco traded triples, Sorkin put-back a Blatt miss, while Menco and Sorkin scored again to give Oded Katash’s squad a 36-27 lead with five minutes left in the first half. Gabriel powered in a pair of points in the paint. Kyser did the same at the other end, Rokas Jokubatis hit a jumper, Levi Randolph knocked down a corner 3-ball, Mitrou-Long also went from deep, Hoard and Adams traded baskets as Maccabi stayed in front 45-35 at halftime.

Artzi dialled up long distance to start off the third quarter, Sorkin put down a 3-point play, Kyser hit a long jumper, Randolph and Kyser traded baskets, Hoard scored off the glass while Dakarai Tucker went from deep to cut the lead down to 55-49 midway through the frame. Mitrou-Long put in a layup and added a 3-point play, Jokubaitis hit a quartet of free throws as Maccabi continued to lead 62-56 after thirty minutes of action.

John Dibartolomeo nailed a 3-pointer to begin the fourth quarter, David DeJulius also scored but Kyser and Tucker responded immediately, Sorkin and Tucker traded baskets, Mitrou-Long hit a jumper and Hoard came back with points as the yellow-and-blue stayed ahead 72-65 with five minutes remaining in regulation time. Tucker went from downtown, Dibartolomeo did the same, Artzi cut to the hoop for points, Blatt handed the ball off to Hoard for a 3-point play as Maccabi closed out a 79-72 win.