In a dominant performance, Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv made a city statement. The Israeli champs defeated Hapoel Tel Aviv 95-78 in the Derby, in what was the first game in Yad Eliyahu in front of full capacity crowd since the war broke out.

Led by Bonzie Colson, who scored 19 points and collected 9 boards, the yellows brought great energies and took control of the game in the second quarter, never to look back. Maccabi had 47 rebounds to Hapoel’s 32, blocked 6 of their rivals’ shots and showed lots of grit throughout the contest.

Jasiel Rivero was excellent with a 12-point, 13-rebound double-double, while Wade Baldwin contributed a solid 10 points and 9 assists stat line. Roman Sorkin and John DiBartolomeo also scored 12 points for the winners, who improved to a 7-3 record in the Israeli league. Next up for Maccabi is another home game on Tuesday against up and coming Maccabi Ramat Gan.