The Yellow & Blue clinch to the Winner Cup Finals as they’ll face Hapoel Holon for the preseason tournament title. Wilbekin led the way with 22 points and seven assists, and Zizic added 16 points and ten rebounds
Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv’s dropped 32 points in the first 10 minutes and 58 in the first half defeating Maccabi Rishon Le’Zion 92:72 on its way to the Winner Cup Finals. The Yellow & Blue showed urge and concentration, running away from the Oranges with a 29 point advantage midway through the second quarter, not letting Rishon Le’Zion feel comfortable on the court. Maccabi will play against Hapoel Holon in the Finals.
Scottie Wilbekin, Sandy Cohen, Oz Blayzer, Othello Hunter, and Ante Zizic opened in the Yellow & Blue’s starting lineup. Maccabi worked the Croatian center inside, who scored the first 6 points for Giannis Sfairopoulos’s squad, 6:3. Wilbekin and Tyler Dorsey knocked in three consecutive triples, and Hunter converted a three-point play opening a double-digit advantage, 20:10.
The Yellow & Blue momentum continued stopping Rishon scoreless for over 2 minutes. Wilbekin drilled another three and dished an alley hoop assist to Hunter, who slammed it down, as Akil Mitchell scored from mid-range, 27:14. Isiah Taylor converted from deep on the buzzer to end the quarter, 32:18.
Maccabi’s defense continued its positive start preventing the Oranges from scoring in the first 2:30 minutes of the quarter. Dorsey added Maccabi’s 5th three of the half, and Hunter laid in two more in the paint, increasing the advantage up to 20, 38:18. Noam Avivi scored the only 3 points for Rishon midway through the quarter as Max Heidegger found Eidan Alber open from deep, and possession later, passed by his defender and laid in two, 45:23.
Heidegger continued the damage from deep, hitting back to back threes, expanding the edge up to 29, but Avivi and Noam Dovrat scored points late in the quarter, reducing the lead down to 25, 58:33 at halftime.
The Oranges got out of the lockerroom sharper as Darryl Monroe scored a mid-range jumper, and Dovrat drilled consecutive triples as part of a 14:3 stretch lessening the lead down to 14, 61:47. Dorsey came off the bench, stopped the bleeding, and Blayzer hit a shot from deep, 68:52.
Monroe dished multiple assists leading Rishon to a 7:0 run diminishing the edge down to single digits, which led to a Giannis Sfairopoulos timeout. Wilbekin and Dorsey answered on the other end, scoring five unanswered points to close out the third quarter, 73:59.
Mitchell tallied consecutive buckets, Zizic grabbed an offensive board and laid in two more, 77:64. After collecting his second unsportsmanlike foul, Dorsey was ejected from the game, but Wilbekin and the Croatian big man took control, scoring 11 straight points for the Yellow & Blue, 86:68. Maccabi advances to the Winner Cup finals after a 92:72 triumph over Rishon Le’Zion.
