By Amy Samin

In their first away game of the Israeli League season, Maccabi Electra Tel Aviv defeated Irony Eldan Ashkelon 104 – 87.
The unstoppable Sofo scored a record 24 points, while Perkins added 20 points and 7 rebounds.

Head coach David Blatt gave the starting roles to Jeremy Pargo, Lior Eliyahu, Guy Pnini, Doron Perkins and Sofoklis Schortsanitis, while Ashkelon led off with Dror Hagag, Gabe Pruitt, Ahihad Bukra, Tim Pickett, and Rashon Turner.
Maccabi got off to a good start with points from Sofo, Eliyahu and Perkins, taking a 7 – 0 lead two minutes into the game.
Ashkelon responded with a pair of three pointers from Pickett and a deuce to come within one, 9 – 8.
Sofo reacted with a hard jam and one from the stripe, which he soon followed with two points more off an assist from Chuck Eidson, 15 – 8 Maccabi.
Eliyahu also scored a dunk, while Eidson scored six straight to end the quarter with Maccabi leading by ten, 25 – 15.

The two teams took turns exchanging pairs of baskets early in the second quarter, with Pargo and Perkins doing a fine job running Maccabi’s offense.
An amazing over-the-shoulder dish from Perk to David Blu made it 33 – 19, Maccabi after three and a half minutes of play.
Eidson nailed Maccabi’s first three pointer of the game off an assist from Pnini, which was followed by six points from Perk including a nifty fade-away from the middle distance which put Maccabi up 42 – 25 with just over four minutes remaining in the half.
Yaniv Green came into the game and scored five points (four of them off assists from Eidson), but it was Richard Hendrix who squeezed in the last points at the buzzer, 55 – 41 to Maccabi Electra Tel Aviv going into the break.

The home team opened well in the third quarter, scoring eight points to Maccabi’s four in the first two minutes.
A putback by Blu (making it 64 – 49) were Maccabi’s only points from the field for the next several minutes, though Sofo, Eliyahu and Blu all scored from the charity stripe, putting Maccabi up 71 – 59 with three and a half minutes left in the period.
Ashkelon kept coming, scoring eleven points to narrow the gap.
But those last few minutes were dominated by Perk with an assist to Hendrix, points from the free throw line, and a drive up the middle; the score after three quarters was 78 – 70, Maccabi.

Ashkelon kept fighting in the first half of the fourth quarter, but Maccabi managed to keep them at arm’s length.
A three-pointer from the left corner by Blu extended Maccabi’s lead to twelve, 86 – 74 after three minutes.
Sofo re-entered the game and dominated the paint, taking time off from scoring to dish out to Pnini for a three, 93 – 80 with four minutes left in the game.
A drive to the basket by Pargo put Maccabi over the century mark, 101 – 86 with just over a minute and a half left.
The game ended on another Sofo-style three pointer (two in the paint and one from the line) to wrap up a 104 – 87 victory for Maccabi Electra Tel Aviv over Irony Eldan Ashkelon.

Box Scores

Maccabi: Sofoklis Schortsanitis 24 points; Doron Perkins 20 points, 7 rebounds; David Blu 11 points; Guy Pnini 10 points; Chuck Eidson and Lior Eliyahu 9 points each; Richard Hendrix 8 points; Jeremy Pargo 6 points; Yaniv Green 5 points; Tal Burstein 2 points.

Ashkelon: Tim Pickett 22 points; Thomas Terrell 18 points; Rashon Turner 16 points; Gabe Pruitt 11 points; Desmon Farmer 6 points; Lior Lipshits, John Jakes and Dror Hagag 4 points each; Ahihad Bukra 2 points.

“We played tough defense in the last quarter, took care of business and got the win,” said Sofo Schortsanitis after the game.
When asked about Maccabi’s upcoming Euroleague game, Sofo said, “The game against Zalgiris is the real show.
We need to train hard and play hard for 40 minutes in the game, not for only 25 minutes.”

Maccabi head coach David Blatt was upbeat after the win.
“There were some good minutes.
If you come away from a 17 point victory and don’t feel good, something’s wrong with you.
We dominated for the entire game.
It’s clear to me there are a few things that need to be taken care of, especially when you’re facing an opponent with players of such excellent personal ability.”

And what about Zalgiris?
Blatt is hoping for the best: “I hope we’ll open the game well like we did here tonight.
Zalgiris is a better team than Ashkelon, who will be a tough opponent for a lot of teams in this league.”

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