Maccabi stays undefeated in the Winner League and at their home court. Wilbekin was on fire with 26 points while Dorsey, in his Israeli league debut, added 15. On Wednesday: Fenerbahce comes to town
Scored for Maccabi: Wilbekin 26 points (6-7 3 points, 5 assists), Dorsey 15 points (4-7 3P), Omri Casspi 13 points (6-8 from the floor), Nate Wolters (5 assists) & Tarik Black (10 rebounds, 4 assists) 7 points each, Jake Cohen 5, Yovel Zoosman, John DiBartolomeo, Othello Hunter (8 rebounds) & Avdija 4 points each. Jerusalem’s top scorers: J’Covan Brown 27 points (6-6 3 points), James Feldeine 18 points (4-8 3P), Tashawn Thomas 14 points (5-11).
Recap
Wolters, Wilbekin, Zoosman, Casspi, and Black opened in Maccabi’s starting five. On the other end, Blatt, Feldeine, Lockett, Braimoh, and Thomas. Maccabi took the lead early with a three-pointer by Wolters and a bucket by Wilbekin, Thomas put the Reds on the board after two minutes of play, but a Zoosman layup put the Yellow & Blue on top 7:2. Feldeine hit his first shot from outside, Braimoh tied it up, and another three by Feldeine to gave Jerusalem a 10:9 lead. After buckets by Cohen and Hunter, Brown came on fire off the bench scoring 8 points to give the Reds a 20:13 advantage after 10 minutes.
Lockett ended a 20:6 run, scoring the first bucket of the second quarter, Dorsey responded with a big three-pointer, but Brown reached 11 points without a miss, 25:16. Wilbekin joined the three-point party, and Avdija in transition cut the lead to 21:25. Dorsey completed a three-point play on Maccabi’s 11:0 run that brought the Yellow & Blue back to the game. Tashawn Thomas added four straight points for Jerusalem, as Caspi scored his first points of the contest, Maccabi goes down to the half down by 1, 36:37.
The hosts came out sharp out of half-time, Casspi and Wolters scored easy points as Blatt tied the game at 40 with a three. Scottie Wilbekin got into a zone with four straight three-pointers in a minute to give Maccabi a double-digit advantage, 55:44. Cohen and Dorsey continued the hosts run, as Black gave Maccabi their largest lead of the night, 66:48. Feldeine scored two difficult shots at the end of Maccabi’s magnificent third quarter that put her on top 70:55.
Brown and Feldeine kept Jerusalem in the game, 61:72. But then Deni Avdija scored and found Dorsey in the corner to bring back the lead to, 80:62. Wilbekin with his sixth three and a Casspi bucket gave the Yellow & Blue a 23 point advantage as Brown and Thomas tried to reduce the loss. In the end, Maccabi stays undefeated, beating Hapoel Jerusalem 89:73 in Menorah Mivtachim Arena.
