Maccabi Electra Tel Aviv completely dominated Maccabi Rishon Lezion 79-58 at Nokia Arena in week 10 of the Israeli Winner Sal League. Rice led Maccabi’s scorers with 12; Hickman and Blu added 11 points each.
By Amy Samin
In week 10 of the Israeli Winner Sal League, Maccabi Electra Tel Aviv secured an emphatic 79-58 win over Maccabi Rishon Lezion at Nokia Arena. Tyrese Rice led Maccabi with 12 points, while David Blu and Ricky Hickman added 11 points each. Alex Tyus was superb in the paint, with 8 points, 5 rebounds and 3 blocks. Ben Altit played 12 minutes and scored 5 points.
Starters for Maccabi were Ricky Hickman, Guy Pnini, Yogev Ohayon, David Blu and Sofo Schortsanitis. The center and the point guard combined to put Maccabi up 5-0 early in the quarter, but the game stayed close and halfway through the period Maccabi led 8-6 after a triple from Blu in the left corner. Rishon tied things up at 8, but Alex Tyus with three buckets in the paint and Tyrese Rice (assist Sylven Landesberg) from the corner made it 17-14. Rice scored again to end the period with Maccabi up 22-16.
Joe Ingles scored to kick off the second quarter, but the visitors went on a mini scoring run that put them within four, 24-20 after two minutes. Layups by Rice, Ingles and Ohayon – together with buckets by Sofo put Maccabi’s lead in double digits, 35-25 with just under four minutes to go in the half. Eight straight points from Hickman made things even more comfortable for Maccabi, and the teams went into the halftime break with the home team leading 46-29.
The second half got underway with a trey from Pnini that put Maccabi’s lead at twenty, 49-29 after a minute and a half of action. The hosts kept up the long range barrage with triples from Blu (assist Pnini), Ingles (Hickman), and Hickman (Blu) that made it 60-40 with four minutes left in the period. Ben Altit with a follow-dunk and a putback made it 64-45 as the period ended.
Both teams went scoreless in the first few minutes of the fourth quarter, until Rishon scored from the charity stripe to break the ice. Blu responded with five straight points, but the pace remained practically glacial until Pnini warmed things up with a bucket from downtown that made it 75-52 with three minutes remaining. In the end, Maccabi Electra Tel Aviv defeated Maccabi Rishon Lezion 79-58.
