Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv's fourth consecutive Israeli Winner League championship campaign will have to go through Eilat as Giannis Sfairopoulos's squad will face the local Hapoel team at 21:00 on Tuesday looking for a win which will advance them one step closer towards the title.

The Yellow & Blue's come off a convincing 88:72 win over Ariel Beit Halachmi's squad in Game 1 of the Israeli Winner League Semifinals. The coaching staff, who'll enjoy the same roster that gave them Sunday's victory, hopes to receive similar significant production from the Israeli's, Omri Casspi and Yovel Zoosman, who excelled in the first meeting in Menora Mivtachim Arena.

"We have a tough challenge tomorrow, Eilat plays really well at their home court, and they got us there last time", Said Maccabi's captain John DiBartolomeo. "We expect a fight, a tough game. We played well in Game 1, but we will have to play even better to come out with Game 2".

As John D. related, the Yellow & Blue's last visit in the southern city ended in a hard-fought 85:91 defeat. Hapoel Eilat comes into the contest, winning five consecutive home playoffs, with their previous loss goes back to 2017. Throughout history, Maccabi holds the advantage in Eilat winning 4 of the 6 games.

Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv is two wins away from lifting their fourth consecutive Israeli Winner League championship after a dramatic 80:79 win sealing a series sweep over Hapoel Eilat in the southern city. With the win, the Yellow & Blue stayed perfect in the playoffs as they'll look to complete the task against the winner of the series between Hapoel Holon and Hapoel Gilboa/Galil.

Jones was dominant on both ends of the court, stepping up tonight leading Giannis Sfairopoulos's squad with a career-high 27 points (63% from the field), adding to that 6 assists, 6 rebounds, and 3 steals for a total of 38 PIR. Wilbekin contributed 15 points and knocked down decisive buckets late in the contest, including a three from behind the arc that shifted the lead to the Yellow & Blue with one minute left. 



Game Recap:

Maccabi's starting five: Scottie Wilbekin, Yovel Zoosman, Angelo Caloiaro, Omri Casspi, and Ante Zizic. Hapoel Eilat's starting five: Joe Ragland, Markel Brown, Casey Prather, Ben Carter, and Meron Ruina.

The Yellow & Blue struggled to find the bottom of the net, missing 8 shots to open the game. Ariel Beit Halachmi took advantage for a quick 8 point advantage as Ruina scored the host's first six points, 2:10. Chris Jones came off the bench and scored the visitors' first field goal after stealing the ball on the defensive end, and Casspi added 4 points in the paint, minimizing the margin down to 5.

Giannis Sfairopoulos's squad locked down defensively, stopping Eilat scoreless for 4 minutes as Wilbekin drilled his first three of the night, adding an assist to Othello Hunter, who laid in two Chris Jones converted an and-one possession, 18:14. Jonathan Skj?ldebrand and Prather, who beat the buzzer, knocked down two three-pointers to close the first ten minutes of the game, 20:20.



Jones added on to his excellent start hitting a midrange jumper and adding two from the charity stripe. On the other end, Roi Huber connected from deep, Carter laid in two inside after a Ragland assist, and Prather completed a 7:0 stretch with a mid-range jumper, 26:33.

Jones found Zizic beautifully for an easy two-handed slam, and then the Croatian big man became the distruster spotting Blayzer open in the corner. Brown answered with a shot from behind the arc, added a strong one-handed slam, and Prather drilled a corner triple, 34:43. Caloiaro responded from deep, and Scottie scored Maccabi's last three points of the half, 40:48.

Jones was all over the court stealing the ball in back-to-back possessions for easy layups, and the guard added two quarterback fastbreak passes to Hunter and Caloiaro leading to a Beit Halachmi timeout, 48:50. 

Brown and Wilbekin exchanged shots from deep as both sides couldn't find a basket for almost 3 minutes until Zizic grabbed an offensive board and laid two, 54:55. Brown closed out the quarter with three points, giving Eilat a 4 point edge heading into the final 10 minutes, 54:58.



The offensive woes continued as both teams scored only 6 points in the first 3 minutes of the quarter, Ragland laid in two while Jones connected a mid-range fadeaway jumper, 56:62. Caloiaro completed a and one play, Wilbekin knocked down a shot from behind the arc, and Jones, with a beautiful move, passed by Brown and laid in two high of the glass, tying the contest at 65.

Casspi floated in two on the verge of the 24-second shot clock, Jones added a three-pointer, but Prather put Eilat on his back, responding with 10 straight points, including two beautiful mid-range fadeaway jumpers, 71:75. Jones hit a deep two, and Wilbekin knocked down a clutch three-pointer giving Maccabi a one-point edge with one minute left. 

Prather converted two from the charity strike restoring the lead, but Casspi, with a lot of determination, laid in two, 78:77. A scary moment occurred with 21 seconds left when Prather drove to the basket, slipped, and grabbed his knee in what seemed like a severe knee injury. 

Wilbekin and Jones each scored one from the free-throw line giving Maccabi a three-point margin. Zoosman received an unsportsmanlike, and Brown took advantage, converting two from the line, reducing the margin down to one, keeping one last ball with 3 seconds left. The ball went to Brown, who missed a tough shot. Maccabi advances to the Israeli Winner League Finals after a dramatic 80:79 win over Hapoel Eilat.