Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv heads out north on Sunday night to face Hapoel Haifa in Romema Arena (21:05, Live on Sport5 - Channel 55) for their last Israeli League game before starting a series of six straight EuroLeague games. 

The Israeli champions decided to leave Tyler Dorsey, Othello Hunter, Angelo Caloiaro, Eidan Alber, and Yovel Zoosman (recovering from a knee injury) out of Sunday's roster. Maccabi will have to her disposal Elijah Bryant, Scottie Wilbekin, T.J. Cline, Chris Jones, Sandy Cohen, Omri Casspi, John DiBartolomeo, Oz Blayzer, Dragan Bender, Dori Sahar, Ante Zizic, and Yonatan Atias.



The Yellow & Blue enter the contest leading the Israeli Winner League standings holding a 16:3 record. Elad Hasin's group, who's having an excellent comeback season after multiple years in the lower leagues, sits in 5th place, gaining 10 wins compared to 6 losses.

Giannis Sfairopoulos's squad beat the Reds four times this season: 89:84 back in the preseason, 83:74 victory in the Winner Cup Quarterfinals, and a commanding 98:73 road win in the Round of 16 stage of the State Cup. The last matchup between the two sides in the Winner League came on November 23rd as Maccabi beat Haifa 81:75 behind a 21 point performance by Oz Blayzer.

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Before starting a six-game EuroLeague stretch, Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv's last Israeli Winner League game until mid-April concluded with a commanding 104:67 road victory over Hapoel Haifa. Giannis Sfairopoulos's squad exploded in the second half, scoring 54 points while allowing only 25, which led to the overall impressive team performance. 

For the second straight game, Ante Zizic finished as the MVP of the night, scoring 12 points, grabbing 7 rebounds, dishing 4 assists, and blocking 3 shots. T.J. Cline had his best performance so far, completing a double-double of 13 points and 11 rebounds. Oz Blayzer and Sandy Cohen contributed 12 points apiece, Elijah Bryant added 11 points, as John DiBartolomeo and Scottie Wilbekin each scored 10 points.



Game Recap:

Maccabi started with Scottie Wilbekin, Elijah Bryant, Oz Blayzer, Omri Casspi, and Ante Zizic. Keenan Evans, Jason Siggers, Amit Simhon, Rakeem Buckles, and Lennard Freeman opened for the hosts.

Bryant disappeared to his defender, and Wilbekin found him under the basket for easy as number 1 added a long floater and a shot from behind the arc, 10:9. Evans totaled four points, and Igor Nesterenko dished back-to-back assists to Karam Mashour, who drilled shots from deep, giving the Reds a 4 point margin. 

The Yellow & Blue responded on the other end, with excellent ball movement as Zizic dished an assist to Blayzer, who converted a three-point play after laying in a reversed layup, Chris Jones beat the shot clock with a typical mid-range jumper, and T.J. Cline laid in 6 points, 24:22 after 10 minutes. 



Maccabi stopped Haifa without a field goal for the first five minutes of the second quarter as John DiBartolomeo dished multiple assists and laid in leading a 13:5 stretch, 37:27. Elad Hassin's squad shifted the momentum as Buckles shot in consecutive shots in the paint and Simhon knocked down a triple, cutting the advantage down to 3. 

Blayzer and Evans exchanged shots from behind the arc as Zizic, and the Israeli forward provided efficient minutes on both sides of the court while producing buckets from second-chance points, 50:42 at halftime.



The Yellow & Blue came out strong from the locker rooms, and in three minutes, Bryant scored 4 of the teams 10 unanswered points later, adding a three, which brought the margin up to 19, 63:44. Evans reduced the edge down to 12, but Wilbekin initiated a 14:2 run with a triple as Jones laid in back-to-back baskets, 77:52. DiBartolomeo closed out the quarter with a three, completing 30 points compared to the Reds 12, 80:54.

DiBartolomeo facilitated the offense scoring five straight points and dishing an assist to Sandy Cohen, who drilled a shot from deep, 89:56. Sfairopoulos lifted Dori Sahar and Yonatan Atias from the bench as the Israeli guard scored Maccabi's last 5 points. The Israeli champions demolish Hapoel Haifa 104:67.

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