The Yellow & Blue win their 9th straight game with captain John DiBartolomeo (MVP) leading the way scoring 19 points (EuroLeague high)
Maccabi Fox Tel Aviv stays undefeated at Menora Mivtachim Arena. In front of 11,00 roaring fans, the hosts recorded its fifth consecutive win in EuroLeague play, downing Alba Berlin 104-78. John DiBartolomeo led the winners with 19 points, and Scottie Wilbekin added 16 points. Next week, the Yellow & Blue head out to a three-game road trip (Baskonia, Milano, Barcelona).
Nate Wolters, Scottie Wilbekin, Yovel Zoosman, Omri Casspi, and Tarik Black opened in Giannis Sfairopoulos’s starting five. Wilbekin got Maccabi on the board, scoring two points, and Casspi added a driving basket for a 4:0 lead. After 3 minutes, Luke Sikma scored the visitor’s first two points, but Wilbekin, with a deep three, kept Maccabi on top, 9:4. Black increased the host’s advantage by 9 with a dunk, but on the other end, Mattisseck scored from downtown, and Giffey laid it in to ignite a 7:0 German run,15:13 Maccabi. Elijah Bryant had the final say in the first quarter scoring two, 21:19 for the Yellow & Blue.
Tyler Dorsey opened the second quarter with a triple, Hunter scored 4 straight points, and Bryant with a three of his own captured a 12:0 Maccabi run to give them a double-digit advantage, 31:19. After an Alba timeout, Giedraitis scored 5 straight points that made coach Sfairopoulos call a timeout. A Dorsey three-pointer brought the lead up to 14, the red-hot Wilbekin scored 8 straight, and Black made two consecutive free throws to give Maccabi 50 points before the end of the first half. Giffey and Giedraitis reduced the lead, 52:37 Maccabi, at the half.
Black started the second half with a slam, as Wilbekin hit another shot from behind the arc to give the hosts a 21 point advantage. Casspi joined the show scoring 8 points at the start of the quarter, Black continued to dominate under the baskets, and John Dibartolomeo hit two straight threes and another one at the end of the quarter to give the Yellow & Blue a commanding 28 point advantage, 83:55.
Dorsey and Hunter scored in the paint early in the fourth, and the captain DiBartolomeo stayed on fire, to put Maccabi in front, 91:57. Deni Avdija came off the bench to score his first two points, and a Nate Wolters three-pointer gave the hosts 100 points. From their, Maccabi cruised to their 5th straight EuroLeague win, 104:78 over Alba Berlin.
