Maccabi Electra Tel Aviv continued their positive momentum with an 89-74 victory over Gilboa Galil at Gan Ner Arena in northern Israel. Jake Cohen was on fire with 22 points and 10 rebounds, Sofo and Ohayon added 15 points each.
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By Amy Samin
Maccabi Electra Tel Aviv continued their positive momentum with an 89-74 victory over Gilboa Galil at Gan Ner Arena in northern Israel. Jake Cohen was on fire with 22 points and 10 rebounds, Sofo Schortsanitis and Yogev Ohayon (7 rebounds, 5 assists) added 15 points each. Sylven Landesberg contributed 13 points and 9 rebounds.
Maccabi’s starters were MarQuez Haynes, Devin Smith, Jake Cohen, Yogev Ohayon, and Sofo Schortsanitis. Maccabi opened strong and ran to 11-2 in the first three and a half minutes, with a trey by Haynes for starters and points from Sofo, Smith, and Cohen (including one basket from outside the arc). The hosts scored their second bucket of the game shortly before the halfway mark in the period, but Maccabi – and Cohen in particular – were unstoppable on offense and iron clad on defense, and the quarter ended with the visitors up 20-11.
The second quarter opened with points by Jeremy Pargo, a huge slam by Alex Tyus (assist Sylven Landesberg) and – who else? – Cohen, whose bucket and one made it 27-13 after two minutes of action. Gilboa was able to put some points on the board, but Landesberg, Ohayon, and Cohen (x 3) kept Maccabi’s lead comfortable, 37-22. The home team was able to narrow the gap slightly before the teams went into the break with Maccabi up 52-39.
Cohen reached a double double (and hit the 20 point mark) early in the third quarter as Maccabi raced to 61-39 three minutes into the half. Nothing could stop the yellows, as Tyus and Landesberg also lit up the scoreboard. Gilboa didn’t give up, and closed to within 17, but a triple by Smith and a tip in at the buzzer by Landesberg ended the period with the score 77-55.
Gilboa seemed like a new team in the fourth quarter, going on an 11-2 scoring run in the first minutes. Ohayon and Landesberg woke Maccabi from their stupor, and Orr Leumi, the team’s newest acquisition, saw a few minutes of action on the court. In the end, Maccabi Electra Tel Aviv won easily, 89-74.
