Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv's series of three Israeli League contests in five days comes to an end on Sunday as the Yellow & Blue host Maccabi Rishon Le'Zion in Menora Mivtachim Arena (19:20, Live on Sport5 - Channel 55). Guy Goodes's squad comes in with five wins and six losses as they'll try to restore their record to .500 on the season, while Giannis Sfairopoulos's unit aims for their fourth straight domestic win and retaining the top position in the table.

The Yellow & Blue didn't register Chris Jones, Tyler Dorsey, Angelo Caloiaro, Omri Casspi, and T.J Cline, who joined the team and settled in Israel but won't take part in Sunday's contest. Giannis Sfairopoulos's roster will include the Maccabi's captain John DiBartolomeo, Elijah Bryant, Scottie Wilbekin, Oz Blayzer, Othello Hunter, Dragan Bender, Sandy Cohen, Dori Sahar, Ante Zizic, Eidan Alber, Jonathan Atias, and Yovel Zoosman.

---

Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv completed a series of four wins in a week with a suffocating 105:77 victory over Maccabi Rishon Le'Zion. The Yellow & Blue averaged blowouts of 26.2 points per win, but now they shift their focus to the State Cup Semi-Finals as they're set to face Hapoel Holon.

The Israeli champions maintained their first position in the Israeli Winner League with ten wins and two losses. Yovel Zoosman delivered his best offensive showing this season, scoring 17 points (hitting all 4 shots from three), dishing five assists, and grabbing four rebounds. 

Five additional players scored in double digits, Scottie Wilbekin 16 points (4/5 from 3P), Ante Zizic 12 points & seven rebounds, Dragan Bender 12 points & 6 rebounds, John DiBartolomeo 12 points, and Elijah Bryant concludes the list with 10 points, 5 rebounds, and 4 assists.



Game recap:

The Yellow & Blue began the contest with Scottie Wilbekin, Yovel Zoosman, Oz Blayzer, Othello Hunter, and Ante Zizic. Isaiah Taylor, Golan Gutt, Noam Dovrat, Akil Mitchell, and Ido Flaisher started for Goodes's squad.

Wilbekin was dominant from the jump ball, drilling a three-pointer and later added three consecutive assists leading to a 10:7 Maccabi advantage. Blayzer initiated a 13:3 stretch as Bryant scored 4 points with multiple assists by Zoosman, 23:10. Trey Lewis connected for five straight points in the quarter's final minute, reducing Maccabi's advantage down to 9, 24:15.

Hunter dished an assist to John DiBartolomeo, who shot in from deep, and Zizic added back-to-back buckets in the paint. Zoosman took advantage of another successful pass by Hunter knocking down another triple, as the American center scored consecutive points, 38:27. A Dragan Bender steal led to a rare Wilbekin slam, and Sandy Cohen jumped high to block Taylor, 46:32 at halftime.



Wilbekin fired from all cylinders scoring 8 points in four minutes, as the edge climbed to 16, but the Oranges, with a 6:0 run, reduced the advantage down to 10, which led to a Sfairopoulos timeout, 57:47. 

The Yellow & Blue responded, scoring 17 unanswered points to close out the third quarter as Zizic worked his way inside for multiple buckets. Zoosman scored 10 points with successful shots from behind the arc, 74:47 heading into the closing 10 minutes.

The 4th quarter was only for the records similar to the past couple of games. A Blayzer layup and a powerful slam by Bender increased the advantage to 33. The Israeli champions recorded another suffocating win with 105:77 over Maccabi Rishon Le'Zion.

---