In the season opener for the Israeli Winner Sal League, Maccabi FOX Tel Aviv easily defeated league newcomer Kiryat Gat 89-65 at Menora Mivtachim Arena. Rochestie scored 14 points and Randle contributed 13 points.
In the season opener for the Israeli Winner Sal League, Maccabi FOX Tel Aviv easily defeated league newcomer Kiryat Gat 89-65 at Menora Mivtachim Arena. Taylor Rochestie led five players in double figures with 14 points. Brian Randle contributed 13 points and 9 rebounds, Devin Smith added 11 points, Yogev Ohayon (8 assists) and Guy Pnini scored 10 points each.
Starters for Maccabi were Yogev Ohayon, Devin Smith, Brian Randle, Jordan Farmar, and Itay Segev. Randle and Smith scored, and Ohayon with a triple on the left wing made it 9-6 three minutes into the game. Randle continued to light up the scoreboard with a pair of layups and a dish to Smith to make it 18-10 with less than four minutes left in the period. Sylven Landesberg drove up the middle for two and team captain Guy Pnini scored from outside the arc to end the period with Maccabi up 25-21.
Taylor Rochestie scored four straight at the start of the second quarter to extend Maccabi’s lead to 31-26 but Kiryat Gat responded, making it a two point game shortly after. Randle’s putback dunk and another drive to the basket by Segev reopened Maccabi’s lead, then Rochestie went to work with back to back triples (one off a dish by Randle), and another layup by Segev put Maccabi’s lead in double digits, 43-33 with two and a half minutes left until halftime. Ohayon stole the ball and dished to Pnini for the layup to make it 46-38 going into the break.
The second half got underway with a three pointer by Ohayon from the top of the arc, which kicked off a 15-2 scoring run that lasted for half the period with points by Smith and Randle. Kiryat Gat finally managed to find the basket, but a layup by Ohayon and a fadeaway by Farmar kept Maccabi’s lead comfortable. New signee Arinze Onuaku played tremendous defense, with a huge block and rebound that led to a fast break layup and one by Landesberg to end the period with Maccabi up 68-53.
Rochestie and Ohayon combined to extend Maccabi’s lead to 76-63 early in the fourth quarter. Pnini and Segev scored under the basket to put the gap over twenty, 77-55 after three minutes. Dragan Bender and Pnini scored back to back treys, and Onuaku added back to back buckets in the paint to finish the game. In the end, Maccabi FOX Tel Aviv cruised past Kiryat Gat 89-65 in the season opener.
