The Yellow & Blue defeat the Reds at home 67:66 after a dramatic finish. Zoosman led the way with 12 points and 9 rebounds. On Tuesday: Game 2 on the road
Maccabi FOX Tel Aviv took a 1:0 series lead in the Israeli “Winner” League quarterfinals after an exciting 67:66 win over the Reds. The Yellow & Blue fought their way out of a 15 point deficit with a 20:10 fourth-quarter finish as Yovel Zoosman was superb on both ends of the court finishing the night with 12 points and 9 rebounds. Scottie Wilbekin, Deni Avdija, and Jake Cohen each scored 10 points. Tuesday, Giannis Sfairopoulos’s squad head out to Shlomo Group Arena for Game 2 of the series.
Scottie Wilbekin, Yovel Zoosman, Deni Avdija, Angelo Caloiaro, and Othello Hunter opened in Giannis Sfairopoulos’s starting five while Yam Madar, Sek Henry, Joaquin Szuchman, Tomer Ginat and Talib Zanna began the game for the visitors.
Madar knocked in the first two points of the series and dished 2 straight assists to Zanna for a 5 point advantage, but Hunter answered scoring five consecutive points for the Yellow & Blue, 5:7. Avdija tied it up at 10 with a shot from deep, as both sides exchanged buckets, 16:16. Madar created the final four points of the quarter, 16:20 after 10 minutes.
Amar’e Stoudemire hit two from the free-throw line, but Jordan Davis and Ginat scored from inside the paint, causing Sfairopoulos to call a timeout, 18:24. Tyler Dorsey and a Zoosman three-pointer decreased the lead down to 2, but Davis nailed in three from the line, and Szuchman with a three-point play led Hapoel to a 6:0 run, 22:30.
Jake Cohen entered the scoreboard tallying seven consecutive points for the hosts, on the other end, Davis continued his good first half answering with 5 points, 29:37. Ginat gave the reds a 10 point advantage, but Cohen found Avdija, who laid it in to finish the first half, 31:39.
The Yellow & Blue opened the second half with better energy, Caloiaro nailed a three, Zoosman scored two and Hunter laid it in for a 7:2 stretch which cut the reds lead down to 3, 38:41.
Zanna and Ginat increased the lead up to 7, Hunter reduced it to five, but then Hapoel took the momentum going on a 10:0 run for their largest advantage of the night, 40:55. Amar’e led Maccabi’s 7:1 counter, which reduced the Reds lead to single digits, 47:56 heading into the final 10 minutes.
The hosts raised their intensity on defense, stopping the visitors scoreless for the first 4:35 minutes of the quarter. Offensively, Stoudemire started the 11:0 run with a slam, Wilbekin hit a shot behind the arc, and Dorsey added a three of his own for an 11:0 run, which gave the Yellow & Blue their first lead of the night, 58:56. Madar scored the reds first points of the quarter, and Henry nailed a three-pointer, 59:62. Wilbekin responded with a three, but Henry took it upon himself with another three-pointer, 62:65, 2:21 till the end of regulation.
Avdija tipped in after an offensive rebound, and next possession drilled a corner three, 67:65. With 44 seconds left on the game clock, Davis hit only one of two from the line cutting the Yellow & Blue lead down to 1. Hunter missed a hook shot, Hapoel got the last opportunity to win it, but Davis and Henry couldn’t find the basket. Maccabi takes a 1:0 series advantage after a thrilling 67:66 win over Hapoel.
