By Amy Samin After last week\u2019s loss, Maccabi had to win this one, and in fact sealed the deal before the end of the first half. Maccabi opened with Marcus Brown, Carlos Arroyo, Lior Eliyahu, Omri Casspi and D\u2019or Fischer. Casspi scored a quick 5 points in the early minutes of the game, contributing to Maccabi\u2019s 9 \u2013 5 lead after three and a half minutes. Marcus Brown dominated in the first period, scoring 12 and taking Maccabi to a 27 \u2013 13 lead at the buzzer. Maccabi continued to dominate in the second quarter, and The second half was marked by a reawakening by It seemed Box Scores Maccabi<\/SPAN><\/B>: Eliyahu 20 points, 6 rebounds; M. Brown 17 points; Arroyo 13 points, 5 assists; Fischer 12 points; Casspi 10 points; Burstein 5 points; Green 4 points; D. Brown 3 points. Ashkelon<\/SPAN><\/B>: Burton and Turner, 12 points each; Tamir and Roberts 10 points each; Grant 9 points; Truscott 7 points; Eitan 5 points; Cohen and Davidi 2 points each. \u201cThis is our level of ability, and we need to show it,\u201d said Maccabi head coach Pini Gershon<\/B>. Marcus Brown<\/SPAN><\/B> added, \u201cWe wanted to come and play together well, to show our strengths and to be consistent. Lior Eliyahu<\/SPAN><\/B> said, \u201cWe\u2019ve gotten criticism in the past, and there will be more to come.
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<\/SPAN>Lior Eliyahu, who led all scorers with 20, had an excellent game.
<\/SPAN>The two teams meet again this Thursday at Nokia Arena.
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<\/SPAN>Arroyo and Brown supplied more points, and Maccabi\u2019s lead gradually grew to double digits, 15 \u2013 5 with three and a half remaining in the quarter.
<\/SPAN>The visitors were on fire at both ends of the court, with excellent defense playing a part in the score, while hosts
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<\/SPAN>At that point, Maccabi led by 20, 35 \u2013 15.
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<\/SPAN>Maccabi responded by moving into Showtime, with an alley-oop from Arroyo to Fischer putting Maccabi up 39 \u2013 20 with three minutes until the half.
<\/SPAN>The visitors cut through
<\/SPAN>A pretty three-pointer by Tal Burstein capped off the quarter, and the half ended with Maccabi leading, 49 \u2013 25.
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<\/SPAN>Eliyahu put the brakes on their runaway train by scoring 6 points, while a three-pointer from Arroyo put Maccabi back up by a comfortable margin, 60 \u2013 38 with five and half minutes gone in the third period.
<\/SPAN>Maccabi tightened up on defense, and a shot from outside the arc by Casspi was just one more nail in
<\/SPAN>Maccabi had cruised to a 69 \u2013 45 lead by the end of the third quarter.
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<\/SPAN>The teams continued to play long minutes of garbage-time, and Maccabi started sending in players off the bench while waiting patiently for the game to end.
<\/SPAN>Finally, the clock ran out and Maccabi racked up an 86 \u2013 69 victory over
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<\/SPAN>\u201cWe weren\u2019t focused in the first game, and we could have played better.
<\/SPAN>It\u2019s all mental, and the results of the first game are proof of that.
<\/SPAN>This time, the team played as a unit and our defense was great.
<\/SPAN>I hope I won\u2019t need to say anything else.\u201d
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<\/SPAN>The mental part is to be aggressive and stubborn, and that\u2019s what we did here.
<\/SPAN>We wanted to show that we\u2019ve gotten over the loss at home.
<\/SPAN>If we play this way in the next game, there shouldn\u2019t be any problem.\u201d
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<\/SPAN>I do the maximum, and even when I was in a bad patch, I did my best.
<\/SPAN>I\u2019m happy we came to play with our backs against the wall, and from the beginning we played like we should.
<\/SPAN>At this stage there\u2019s a lot of struggling and fighting.
<\/SPAN>If we go into the next game like we did here, we\u2019ll win at Nokia.\u201d