The Yellow & Blue maintained the perfect home record in the domestic league before the big game on Wednesday against Anadolu Efes in Menorah Arena. Cohen excelled with 22 points
Forty-eight hours after the dramatic victory over Olympiacos and before the double EuroLeague clash, Maccabi Fox Tel Aviv preserved the lead on top of the Israeli league, beating Hapoel Gilboa/Galil 99:76. Next week, The Israeli champions will head on the road to match up against Hapoel Jerusalem, not before they face Anadolu Efes at home and Red Star Belgrade in Serbia.
Maccabi opened the game with Scottie Wilbekin, Yovel Zoosman, Deni Avdija, Quincy Acy, and Othello Hunter in the starting five. Hunter put the hosts on the board, while Acy and Wilbekin hit shots from deep that gave a 11:6 advantage. Avdija took the command scoring 4 points while adding to that two assists helping the Yellow & Blue open a double-digit lead, 20:9. Edgar Sosa tried to keep the northern squad within striking distance, but Jake Cohen and Tyler Dorsey preserved the lead scoring all of Maccabi’s points in the final minutes, 30:18 after 10 minutes.
The hosts kept on striking from deep while on the other end, Iftach Ziv put the visitors on his back, scoring all of their points in the first 3 minutes of the period, 36:22. Amar’e Stoudemire, Avdija, and Cohen led the Yellow & Blue to 21 point advantage as Ido Fleischer closed the half with three consecutive points, 53:35.
Jackson got into an offensive groove scoring a three-point play while Michael Young and Fleischer reduced the lead down to 19, 64:45. Ziv and Jarvis Varnado cut the advantage to 15, but Cohen and Stoudemire scored 8 consecutive points that gave Maccabi a 76:55 lead, going into the final period.
Throughout the fourth, Giannis Sfairopoulos’s squad defended the 20 point advantage putting the game out of reach early. Maccabi overpowers Gilboa/Galil 99:76 on its way to their 19th win this season in the domestic league.
