Maccabi Electra Tel Aviv defeated Rishon Lezion 88 – 74 in Nokia Arena in week 13 of the Lotto League. Hendrix led all scorers with 16 points in an excellent performance.
By Amy Samin
Maccabi Electra Tel Aviv defeated Rishon Lezion 88 – 74 in Nokia Arena in week 13 of the Lotto League thanks to an excellent night by their big men.
Richard Hendrix had a fantastic game on both ends of the court, scoring 16 points, blocking 7 shots and pulling down 6 rebounds.
Lior Eliyahu and Sofoklis Schortsanitis each contributed 14 points, and Milan Mačvan added 12 points in 11 minutes while his proud family looked on.
David Blu was missing from the lineup due to a slight injury to his foot.
Guy Pnini, Jeremy Pargo, Doron Perkins, Lior Eliyahu and Sofoklis Schortsanitis opened the game for Maccabi, facing off against Mitchell, Morgan, McGhee, Hanochi and Shulman for Rishon Lezion.
Perkins scored five straight to give Maccabi an early lead, but the visitors answered quickly and a few minutes later had taken a 10 – 9 lead.
Eliyahu then scored 5 straight to put Maccabi on top 14 – 10 at the halfway point in the period.
Maccabi’s excellent defense, including Hendrix with two huge blocks and a steal by Pnini, kept Rishon to a mere two points in the second half of the quarter, while four different players scored for Maccabi.
At the end of one period the score was 22 – 12, Maccabi.
The second quarter got off to a good start for the visitors, who had narrowed the gap to 24 – 19 after two minutes of play.
Pargo dazzled the crowd with a 360° spin on a drive to the basket, and Sofo scored in the paint, but Rishon continued to respond.
Points by Eliyahu halfway through the period set the score at 32 – 27, Maccabi. A basket by Hendrix (and 1) were soon followed by a coast-to-coast cruise by Chuck Eidson, making it 38 – 29.
Eliyahu scored off a terrific assist from Pnini and Eidson drained a three from the corner to put Maccabi’s lead back in double digits for the first time since the start of the quarter, 43 – 32 with two and a half minutes left in the half.
Free throws on both sides, including two by Hendrix (who was 6 of 8 from the charity stripe) finished the quarter with the score 47 – 39.
The opening minutes of the third quarter were close, with the visitors – Mitchell and McGhee in particular – scoring to put them within three, 49 – 45 after three minutes.
Sofo and Eliyahu dropped in nice shots from the paint to make it 55 – 50, but McGhee scored to put Rishon within three points, 55 – 52 halfway through the period.
Rishon made the mistake of leaving Hendrix alone at mid-range, and he dropped in a nice jumper to make it 59 – 55.
A brace of free throws at both ends of the court were followed by a layup by Hendrix on a fast-break.
Back at the other end of the court, Hendrix added another pair of blocks to his stats.
The quarter ended on points from co-captain Tal Burstein in the right corner, 66 – 59 to Maccabi.
Hendrix continued to demonstrate his ability in the paint, scoring a hook shot after faking out his opponent.
Mačvan had a scoring run of his own, adding 10 straight points for Maccabi, including points from downtown.
After four minutes, the score was 78 – 66.
Hendrix, who did it all, scored again from the free throw line, did a great job keeping McGhee away from the basket while serving up his sixth rejection, and sent a dish to Pnini, making it 82 – 66 with four and a half minutes remaining in the game.
Maccabi was still in fine form for the last two minutes of the game, with points by Burstein and Sofo, yet another block by Hendrix, and two from the foul line by Perk.
Final score, 88 – 74 to Maccabi Electra Tel Aviv over Rishon Lezion.
Box Score:
Maccabi: Hendrix 16 points, 7 blocks, 6 rebounds; Schortsanitis and Eliyahu 14 points each; Mačvan 12 points; Perkins 9 points, 5 rebounds; Eidson, Pargo and Burstein 6 points each; Pnini 5 points and 8 rebounds.
Rishon: Mitchell 20 points, 8 rebounds; McGhee 15 points, 9 rebounds; Hanochi 12 points.
After the game, Maccabi head coach David Blatt addressed the game itself and put the lid on the brouhaha over Hendrix: “We took some shots we didn’t need to take.
We got a huge contribution from our big men tonight; it was exactly what we needed and they did an exceptional job.
Milan and Hendrix were fantastic.
We didn’t take enough offensive rebounds, so most of the time the game was close.”
“Hendrix is one of the best people I know, and he’s one of the people on the team who works the hardest.
Up until now, he’s had a problem because of playing time, today he got his opportunity and you all saw what he’s capable of doing.
He’s a professional who gives his all, whether he’s on the court or not.
In my entire career, he is one of the players I enjoy coaching the most.”
Richard Hendrix himself this to say, “It was a good win.
We had a good team effort tonight, to come out and get a win against a resilient Rishon team.
They played well.
You have to give them credit.
They followed through to the end, but fortunately we came out with the win.
Leave?
I personally am not thinking about that, those are speculations by people from the outside.
I’m trying to improve my game every time, and when I get an opportunity, I take it.
It doesn’t bother me because I don’t read it, sometimes people tell me about it.
I’m focusing on my team and my game.”
