By Amy Samin

In the first-ever meeting between the two teams, Maccabi Electra Tel Aviv defeated Maccabi Ashdod 84 – 62.
Sofoklis Schortsanitis was outstanding for Maccabi, scoring 19 points and taking 9 rebounds; he was fouled 10 times.
Lior Eliyahu added 14 points, Guy Pnini and David Blu scored 13 apiece.

Guy Pnini, Jeremy Pargo, Sofoklis Schortsanitis, Doron Perkins and Lior Eliyahu started the game for Maccabi in fine style, taking a quick 7 – 1 lead thanks to points from the big men.
Outside shooting was less successful due to tough defense by the home team.
Another bucket by Eliyahu made it 12 – 5 at the halfway mark in the period.
Ashdod managed to sink a field shot, but a steal/assist by Pargo to Yaniv Green for the dunk put Maccabi’s lead at 18 – 7 with three minutes left in the quarter.
Two points from the charity stripe by Josh Duncan with 0:0 on the clock put the home team in double digits at the end of one quarter, Maccabi 18 - Ashdod 11.

Ashdod opened well in the second quarter with four straight points, but David Blu sank two straight three-pointers to put Maccabi up by nine, 27 – 18.
Green scored again from a Pargo assist and then the latter scored from the foul line.
With half the period gone, Maccabi’s lead had swollen to 33 – 18.
Phenomenal defense kept the hosts to only three more points in the quarter, while Maccabi dazzled the crowd with a reverse layup by Chuck Eidson, a Pnini to Eliyah-oop, and points by Sofo to round things out.
At the half, Maccabi Electra Tel Aviv led Ashdod 30 – 21.

Neither team was particularly sizzling at the start of the second half, until points from outside the arc by Pnini and a steal by Perk got Maccabi fired up, 45 – 23.
Ashdod tried to get back in the game but a layup by Pnini and another three by Blu (assist Pnini) made it 55 – 31.
Wayne Wallace continued to contribute for the home team, but Maccabi protected their lead.
At the end of three periods, the visitor’s lead was 62 – 39.

Or Eytan helped Ashdod narrow the gap a bit at the start of the fourth quarter, making it 65 – 46 after two and a half minutes.
The next several minutes saw Sofo score six (two of those off an assist by team captain Derrick Sharp) and co-captain Tal Burstein dropped in a putback, 73 – 51 to Maccabi.
Another Eliyah-oop (this one delivered by Burstein) put Maccabi up by 21, 78 – 57 with less than three minutes remaining.
Maccabi’s final points in the game came from a three-point catch-and-shoot by Burstein, and the game ended in an 84 – 62 win for Maccabi Electra Tel Aviv over Maccabi Ashdod.

Box Scores:

Maccabi: Schortsanitis 19 points, 9 rebounds; Eliyahu 14 points; Pnini and Blu 13 points each; Green 8 points; Burstein and Pargo 5 points each; Eidson 4 points; Perkins 3 points.

Ashdod: Carter 16 points; Wallace 15 points, 13 rebounds; Eytan 11 points; Duncan 10 points, 8 rebounds.

Maccabi head coach David Blatt is already looking ahead to Thursday’s Euroleague game against Partizan: “My head is already in the game coming up against Partizan, which is for first place in our group.
We’ve qualified for the Top 16, and now the important thing is to finish in first place.
I’ll be very happy if we can do that.”
About the game against Ashdod, the coach said, “I’m not satisfied with what I saw tonight, except for our fantastic defense in the first half.
Nothing else we did tonight was good.”

Sofoklis Schortsanitis, who was outstanding in the game said, “I’m just here to help my team, and I feel great.
Coach was right to be disappointed, because we only played well for one quarter of the game.
We’ll work hard on our defense and we’ll try to improve.
I don’t know if I’ve improved here, but it’s fun in Tel Aviv.
There’s a good atmosphere.
We’ll be ready for the Top 16; one of our goals was to get there, now we’re looking ahead to the next level.”

www.samintranslations.com