Maccabi Electra Tel Aviv lost to Hapoel in the Tel Aviv derby, 78-66 in week 7 of the Israeli Winner Sal League season. Blu led Maccabi with 13 points, Smith and Sofo added 12 each.
By Amy Samin
Maccabi Electra Tel Aviv lost to Hapoel in the Tel Aviv derby, 78-66 in week 7 of the Israeli Winner Sal League. David Blu led Maccabi’s scorers with 13 points, Devin Smith and Sofo Schortsanitis added 12 points each. Alex Tyus, Jake Cohen, and Tyrese Rice did not dress for the game.
Devin Smith, Ricky Hickman, Yogev Ohayon, Sylven Landesberg and team captain Shawn James were the starters for Maccabi. Hapoel got off to a good start, taking a 6-0 lead, but a baseline jumper and 1 from Landesberg and points by Sofo Schortsanitis, who subbed in for James, closed the gap to 6-5. The hosts built up another six point lead, but good work by Sofo along with a layup by Ohayon kept Maccabi close, as the period ended with the score 19-17.
Hapoel kept a four point lead over the first two and a half minutes of the second period, but after that neither team scored for many minutes. With three minutes left in the half, the home team’s lead had grown to ten, 31-21. Points from the top of the arc by Smith cut that lead, but then Hapoel went on a 9-0 scoring run, and the teams went into the break with Maccabi down 42-26.
Hapoel kept their lead comfortable early in the third quarter, despite more aggressive defense by Maccabi, but a three from the right corner by David Blu kicked off a 7-0 scoring run for Maccabi that made it 47-37 halfway through the period. Thanks to more points by Blu, Maccabi cut their deficit to four with three and a half minutes left in the period, 49-45. But the hosts went on another scoring run and extended their lead to ten with a minute left, 55-45. Maccabi scraped together a couple of points from the charity stripe, but the period ended with Hapoel leading 62-47.
Maccabi couldn’t build up any momentum at the start of the final quarter while Hapoel kept their lead comfortable, 67-52 after three minutes. Points from Joe Ingles and Blu helped narrow the gap, 69-61 with three minutes left in the game, but in the end Hapoel claimed a 78-66 victory over Maccabi Electra Tel Aviv.
BOXSCORE
Maccabi: Blu 13 points, 9 rebounds; Schortsanitis and Smith 12 points; James (9 rebounds),Hickman, Naimy and Ingles 6 points each; Landesberg 3 points; Ohayon 2 points.
