Maccabi Tel Aviv 
Hapoel Jerusalem Maccabi Tel Aviv
Made/Att
Made/Att
Made/Att
DEF OFF TOT
CM RV
FV AG
Hapoel Jerusalem
Made/Att
Made/Att
Made/Att
DEF OFF TOT
CM RV
FV AG
Sunday at 21:00: Maccabi hosts Jerusalem
The Israeli Champions will face the State Cup holders for their first matchup this season in the Israeli league. Sfairopoulos: "We know the importance of this game for the club, fans, and to all of us"
Maccabi Fox Tel Aviv built a four-game winning streak coming into a challenging week: as they’ll face three strong opponents in the next 6 days. The first one comes at home against Hapoel Jerusalem (Sunday, 21:00, Live on channel 5Sport), in a matchup between the two undefeated clubs in the Israeli league.
The State Cup holders come into the game after defeating Ironi Ness Ziona, Hapoel Tel Aviv, and Ironi Nahariya. On the other end, the Israeli Champions beat Maccabi Rishon LeZion, Hapoel Eilat, and Ironi Ness Ziona.
Tyler Dorsey will suit up for his first Israeli league game as Quincy Acy, Elijah Bryant, Sandy Cohen, and Angello Caloiaro won’t be available for coach Giannis Sfairopoulos.
“We know the importance of this game for the club, fans, and to all of us. We will fight hard, and we will come ready”, Said coach Sfairopoulos before the matchup against the reds. “We aren’t thinking about this week, we are focused only on this upcoming game and how to play better as a team”.
“This game is entirely different from the Winner Cup finals”. Continued Sfairopoulos. “During those eight days, we played 5 games. Tomorrow we will come out differently because we don’t have that same schedule, it’s a big difference”.
“It’s extremely important to get the W, every game we come out to win”. Said Maccabi’s Captain John DiBartolomeo, towards Sunday’s contest. “We have the last match against Jerusalem on our minds, and it will be nice to start this tough trip coming up with a win, as we approach it one game at a time. I think for us it starts on defense, Jerusalem is a very offensive-minded team, they have weapons at all positions, so limiting them in transition, and stopping their rhythm on offense will be key for us”.
“We prepare to all games in the same way”. Told DiBartolomeo. “We don’t take any opponent likely wherever league we are. We need to be one of the better teams at home, to defend home court and take care of business at our arena”.
Maccabi with a big third quarter beats Hapoel Jerusalem 89:73
Maccabi stays undefeated in the Winner League and at their home court. Wilbekin was on fire with 26 points while Dorsey, in his Israeli league debut, added 15. On Wednesday: Fenerbahce comes to town
Scored for Maccabi: Wilbekin 26 points (6-7 3 points, 5 assists), Dorsey 15 points (4-7 3P), Omri Casspi 13 points (6-8 from the floor), Nate Wolters (5 assists) & Tarik Black (10 rebounds, 4 assists) 7 points each, Jake Cohen 5, Yovel Zoosman, John DiBartolomeo, Othello Hunter (8 rebounds) & Avdija 4 points each. Jerusalem’s top scorers: J’Covan Brown 27 points (6-6 3 points), James Feldeine 18 points (4-8 3P), Tashawn Thomas 14 points (5-11).
Recap
Wolters, Wilbekin, Zoosman, Casspi, and Black opened in Maccabi’s starting five. On the other end, Blatt, Feldeine, Lockett, Braimoh, and Thomas. Maccabi took the lead early with a three-pointer by Wolters and a bucket by Wilbekin, Thomas put the Reds on the board after two minutes of play, but a Zoosman layup put the Yellow & Blue on top 7:2. Feldeine hit his first shot from outside, Braimoh tied it up, and another three by Feldeine to gave Jerusalem a 10:9 lead. After buckets by Cohen and Hunter, Brown came on fire off the bench scoring 8 points to give the Reds a 20:13 advantage after 10 minutes.
Lockett ended a 20:6 run, scoring the first bucket of the second quarter, Dorsey responded with a big three-pointer, but Brown reached 11 points without a miss, 25:16. Wilbekin joined the three-point party, and Avdija in transition cut the lead to 21:25. Dorsey completed a three-point play on Maccabi’s 11:0 run that brought the Yellow & Blue back to the game. Tashawn Thomas added four straight points for Jerusalem, as Caspi scored his first points of the contest, Maccabi goes down to the half down by 1, 36:37.
The hosts came out sharp out of half-time, Casspi and Wolters scored easy points as Blatt tied the game at 40 with a three. Scottie Wilbekin got into a zone with four straight three-pointers in a minute to give Maccabi a double-digit advantage, 55:44. Cohen and Dorsey continued the hosts run, as Black gave Maccabi their largest lead of the night, 66:48. Feldeine scored two difficult shots at the end of Maccabi’s magnificent third quarter that put her on top 70:55.
Brown and Feldeine kept Jerusalem in the game, 61:72. But then Deni Avdija scored and found Dorsey in the corner to bring back the lead to, 80:62. Wilbekin with his sixth three and a Casspi bucket gave the Yellow & Blue a 23 point advantage as Brown and Thomas tried to reduce the loss. In the end, Maccabi stays undefeated, beating Hapoel Jerusalem 89:73 in Menorah Mivtachim Arena.
