After beating Roma by 41, Maccabi Electra Tel Aviv turned around and crushed Eshet Tours Bnei Hasharon 113 – 67. Sofo (22 points), Perkins (18) and Eliyahu (15) were the top scorers.
By Amy Samin
Five days before their crucial game against Union Olimpija Ljubljana, Maccabi demolished Bnei Hasharon in Herzliya, 113 – 67.
Sofoklis Schortsanitis was outstanding with 22 points and 30 index points, in 16 minutes of playing time.
Doron Perkins added 18 points, Lior Eliyahu contributed 15 points and 8 rebounds and Chuck Eidson scored 14.
In all, six Maccabi players scored in double figures.
Jeremy Pargo, Perkins, Pnini, Sofo, and Eliyahu started for Maccabi, while Steele, James, Grunfeld, Nailon, and Katz led off for Bnei Hasharon.
Maccabi started the game as they meant to go on, scoring eleven unanswered points in the first two and a half minutes of the game.
The demon defense was also out in force, not allowing Bnei Hasharon a field shot until three and a half minutes had passed in the period, 15 – 3 Maccabi.
Sofo was unstoppable under the basket, scoring 8 points in the first five minutes of the quarter.
By the halfway mark, Maccabi had dished out eight assists and the score stood at 20 – 5.
Points by Perk (with a three from the right wing) and Pnini extended the lead to 27 – 5 with three and a half left in the period.
Grunfeld and company managed to find the basket a few times, but a dunk by Richard Hendrix and a layup from Chuck Eidson closed out the quarter with Maccabi up by twenty, 34 – 14.
The second quarter began the way the first had left off, with Maccabi scoring at will while the home team struggled against an ironclad defense.
Sofo partied under the basket, scoring seven straight for Maccabi off assists from Pnini, Eidson and Pargo, while Katz and Shason combined couldn’t equal his output; After four and a half minutes the visitors led 45 – 24.
A bomb by Pargo and more points from Sofo put the score at 50 – 24 just past the midway mark.
Points from Eidson outside the arc were followed by a patented spinning layup by Perkins, and Eliyahu scored in the paint to close out the half with the score 63 – 30.
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A minute into the third quarter Maccabi’s lead had grown to 66 – 30 and the defense had contained James and Nailon to four points apiece in the game thus far.
Bnei Hasharon didn’t give up, though, and even managed to make a couple of shots, but Pnini and Perk had an answer ready on the other end of the court, taking Maccabi to a 71 – 32 lead three minutes into the period.
A three by Eidson put Maccabi’s lead over the forty point mark, while a three by co-captain Tal Burstein made it 85 – 40 halfway through the period.
A three-pointer by Steele gave the home team some encouragement, but was promptly answered by a 7 – 0 run by the visitors which brought the score to 94 – 47 with a minute left in the period.
A shot at the buzzer by Eliyahu finished the quarter with the score 96 – 52.
After reaching 96 points in only three quarters, it took Maccabi a couple of minutes to increase their lead, but when they did it was with a three from Eliyahu, who seems to have added that shot to his permanent repertoire.
The forward followed up the long shot with two more points to break the century mark for Maccabi, making it 101 – 57.
Points by Milan Mačvan increased the lead to 105 – 57.
Bnei Hasharon simply couldn’t keep up with the fantastic ability displayed by Maccabi.
Points by Hendrix put Maccabi’s lead at fifty points, 109 – 59, but Shason and Assaf responded to avoid having that particular stat show up in the record books.
Hendrix added a one-handed dunk (assist by team captain Derrick Sharp) and a putback to close out the rout, giving Maccabi Electra Tel Aviv a very satisfying 113 – 67 victory over Eshet Tours Bnei Hasharon.
Box Score:
Maccabi: Schortsanitis 22 points’ Perkins 18 points; Eliyahu 15 points, 8 rebounds; Eidson 14 points; Hendrix 13 points; Pnini 12 points; Blu 7 points, 7 rebounds; Mačvan 6 points; Burstein 3 points.
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Maccabi Electra Tel Aviv’s head coach David Blatt had this to say after the huge win: “I think we played one of the best halves we’ve seen in a long time, and the game was basically over from that point.
We came into this game very focused; it’s a direct continuation of our game against Rome [last Thursday], almost like that game didn’t end.
Before our first game against Bnei Hasharon we had only one practice and that was at half-speed, and we lost.
This week we had a serious practice on Friday, very tactical and focused, and yesterday we had another good practice and came into this game in an entirely different manner.”
“The guys really took that loss to heart,” Blatt added, “and they also feel how important this period of time is, so they’re raising the bar.
I can’t say enough good things about my staff and the players, who show how much they want to win with every possession.”
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