"The most important task was winning the cup, and we did that successfully"

Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv won its 45th State Cup title thanks to an 86:69 victory over Maccabi Rishon Le'Zion 86:69 in Holon Arena. After three seasons, the Yellow & Blue regained the cup, winning its second title this 2020/21 season after lifting the Winner Cup earlier in the year. Giannis Sfairopoulos's squad has one mission left on their journey, winning the Israeli Championship, which will conclude a treble season.

Maccabi ran away from the Oranges in the second half behind incredible performances. Yovel Zoosman was named the MVP of the game finishing the night with 16 points, 6 rebounds, and 5 assists. Scottie Wilbekin (7 assists) and Ante Zizic (8 rebounds) each had significant roles in the win providing 16 points each.



Head coach Giannis Sfairopoulos spoke after obtaining the 45th State Cup in Maccabi's history: "It's a great feeling, it's my first State cup in my career, and it's here with Maccabi. I want to congratulate Maccabi Rishon Le'Zion for their performance, they played really well. Summarizing the game, We didn't play great basketball, we can play better, but to play a final and be the favorite is not easy. We controlled the game, and our defense was enough. On the offensive end, Rishon took a chance on our shots from outside, packing the paint, but we did a fine job shooting the ball".

On Yovel Zoosman's performance: "Yovel didn't start well offensively, but he was great defensively. In the second half, it was a different story playing a complete game on both sides of the court. From the moment I came to Maccabi, Zoosman received a different role. He will be an essential factor for the rest of the season as he's now in his best shape physically and mentally".



"I want to give a positive word for Rishon Le'Zion that did an excellent job giving 150% despite playing with a shorthanded roster", Said Yovel Zoosman, the Israeli guard who won the Finals MVP. "At the end of the day, we tried to only think about ourselves, it wasn't an amazing performance by us, but we won the game. The most important task was winning the cup, and we did that successfully".

Scottie Wilbekin, who finished as one of three top scorers with 16 points, added: "It's been 4 years since we won our last cup, so it's about time we got it, and we can see the happiness around the squad with the win. For us to win the Championship, we will need Zoosman to play as well as he did tonight, and I hope we will get that done".

"This is my first trophy, and I'm very proud to win it with Maccabi", Explained Ante Zizic after winning the first title of his young career. "I had extra motivation after knowing we haven't won it for a couple of years. Every final has that pressure factor to it needing that time to adjust. From the first minutes of the second half, we did a great job controlling the game until the final buzzer".