Maccabi Electra Tel Aviv racked up their 14th straight win with an 86-79 victory over Hapoel Gilboa Galil at Nokia Arena. Smith scored 21 points, Tyus added 18 points. For the first time, the game was accessible to the hearing impaired with captions and special headphones.
By Amy Samin
Maccabi Electra Tel Aviv continued their winning ways, defeating Hapoel Gilboa Galil 86-79 in week 16 of the Israeli Winner Sal League. Devin Smith led Maccabi’s scores with 21 points and 6 rebounds, and Alex Tyus was named game MVP with 18 points and 9 rebounds. Shawn James also had a good game with 12 points, as did Guy Pnini with 11 points and 7 assists, and Ricky Hickman with 10 points and 5 assists. For the first time in Israel, the game was made accessible to the hearing impaired, with captions appearing on the central scoreboard and special headphones distributed prior to tipoff.
Starters for Maccabi were Yogev Ohayon, Devin Smith, Guy Pnini, Ricky Hickman and team captain Shawn James. Maccabi opened strong, with James dominating, and grabbed a 15-6 lead three minutes into the game. The home team remained in charge, with Alex Tyus coming in and taking control of the paint on both ends, putting Maccabi’s advantage in double digits, 22-10. Tyus continued to score and David Blu added a three pointer from the corner. The period ended with the hosts leading 28-16 off another dunk by Tyus (assist Tyrese Rice).
The second quarter began as the first ended, with a dunk by Tyus (assist Joe Ingles), but Gilboa woke up and began playing basketball, going on a 10-0 scoring run that put them within four, 30-26. Smith sank a trey to stop the flood of shots by the visitors, then went on to dish to James and add another bucket from outside the arc, making it 38-28 halfway through the period. Pnini added a three of his own, and Tyus threw down a hook and a slam (steal Ohayon, pass to Hickman, assist to Tyus) to end the half with Maccabi up 49-38.
Gilboa came out strong after the break, cutting the deficit to five, 51-46 in the first two minutes. Points from downtown by Rice and Pnini (assist Ingles) gave Maccabi some breathing room close to the halfway mark, 56-48. Back to back fastbreaks by Smith (layup and dunk) fired up the crowd and made it 60-52 Maccabi with three and a half minutes left in the period. Rice and Blu added points and Tyus wrapped things up with yet another dunk to end the period with the score 66-58.
Points by Ingles and Tyus started things off in the fourth quarter, but Gilboa went on a 9-0 scoring run to tie things up at 70 near the halfway mark, then went on to claim the lead, 72-71. An unsportsmanlike charge against Tishman from Gilboa sent Hickman to the line, where he put the lead back in Maccabi’s hands. Smith scored from downtown and added a pair of free throws, 82-77 with just over a minute left. A cross-court dish by Pnini to Hickman in the right corner sealed the deal, and Maccabi Electra Tel Aviv defeated Hapoel Gilboa Galil 86-79 in week 16 of the Israeli Winner Sal League.
