Maccabi Electra Tel Aviv defeated Maccabi Haifa 79-71 at Romema Arena. Smith was top scorer for Maccabi with 14 points; Tyus and Rice added 11 points each. (Photo by Noam Galai)
By Amy Samin
In week 13 of the Israeli Winner Sal League, Maccabi Electra Tel Aviv defeated Maccabi Haifa 79-71 in a road game at Romema Arena. Devin Smith had a solid game, with 14 points and 8 rebounds. Alex Tyus (9 rebounds) and Tyrese Rice scored 11 points each. Joe Ingles also had a good game, with 9 points and 5 assists.
Starters for Maccabi were Devin Smith, Ricky Hickman, Jake Cohen, Yogev Ohayon and Sofo Schortsanitis. Smith got things started with a block followed by a triple at the other end; he was joined downtown by Cohen who sank a perfect shot from the top of the arc that made it 8-0 Maccabi after two and a half minutes of play. Haifa finally got on the scoreboard, but Maccabi dominated the period with points by Ohayon, Alex Tyus (putback dunk), David Blu (a trey from the left corner) and Tyrese Rice to end the quarter with Maccabi up 18-10.
Guy Pnini (assist Joe Ingles) kicked off a string of three straight three pointers (Blu on the right wing and Ingles from the left corner) to start the second quarter, 27-16 after two minutes. Rice and Tyus added points in the paint, as did Cohen from the charity stripe. Haifa couldn’t get their offense started, while Pnini added more points from outside the arc, 37-19. Smith also scored from downtown to extend Maccabi’s lead to nineteen, 40-21 with three and a half minutes left in the half. The hosts put together a short string of buckets, but steals ending in fastbreak layups by Ingles and Smith negated them and the teams went into halftime with Maccabi up 47-28.
The hosts looked much stronger at the start of the third quarter, and kept the momentum as they crafted their re-entry into the game. Maccabi’s defense couldn’t keep up, and while Sofo, Hickman, Smith, and Tyus scored for the visitors, Haifa outscored Maccabi 29-17 and the period ended with Haifa trailing by only seven, 64-57.
Five straight points by Rice put Maccabi back on track at the start of the fourth quarter, and a flying slam by Tyus made it 71-59. But Haifa kept chipping away at the deficit, pulling to within six halfway through the period, 71-65. A three by Ingles gave Maccabi some breathing room, and Smith added another to make it 77-69 with two minutes left. In the end, Maccabi Electra Tel Aviv hung on to claim a 79-71 victory over Maccabi Haifa.
