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Maccabi Tel Aviv beat Valencia 95-80 this week, making it their sixth straight EuroLeague win, improving their continental record to 19-13 and putting them in the race for an automatic spot in the quarterfinals.
The Yellow and Blue team took some time to warm up as Wade Baldwin and Jasiel Rivera traded baskets with Semi Ojeleye, Cassius Robertson and Damian Inglis. However, Josh Nebo and James Webb struggled in the second quarter to ensure Maccabi had a 48-38 advantage heading into halftime.
Antonius Cleveland, Baldwin, Bonji Colson, Tamir Blatt and Libero continued to extend the lead, with Nebo dominating in the paint as Oded Katash’s team cruised to victory.
Baldwin scored 17 points, Nebo added 15 points, and Colson, Cleveland and Rivero each scored 10 points in the win. Valencia lost with Ojeleye scoring 15 points, Robertson adding 13 points and Inglis scoring 12 points.
Maccabi Tel Aviv’s next game will be against Hapoel Galil Elyon in the Israeli League on Saturday night, before facing Maccabi Ironi Ramat Gan in the quarterfinals of the Israel State Cup.
“This was a great team win for us and it came from our defense,” Katash said. “In the first quarter we gave up some easy layups, they got more offensive rebounds than us, they shot the ball better than us, but the last three quarters we just slowed them down. I’m very happy because we slowed it down.” Achieving 19 wins is a huge accomplishment, especially given the circumstances. There are still two more left, so it’s going to be tough. Barcelona and Milan are big names.”
“We came to play against a team that has won 15 games in a row,” said Valencia coach Alex Mumble. “We started the game cold, but Maccabi knew what they were going to find in the game. We couldn’t control some crucial moments.”
Israel State Cup 1st round
Hapoel Jerusalem defeated Hapoel Galil Elyon 89-69 in the first round of the Israel State Cup, clinching a ticket to the quarterfinals where the Capital City Reds will host Hapoel Tel Aviv on Sunday.
The visiting team got off to a strong start with goals from Omar Silverio, Shon Miller, and Roy Huber, but the hosts began to chip away at the lead with Speedy Smith and Zach Hankins doing some damage, but in the third quarter I got the advantage. They will look for the win with buckets from Jacory Williams, Kadeen Carrington, and Oz Blazer.
Smith had 17 points and 12 assists, Hankins had 16 points and Randolph had 12 points in the win. In the loss, Chen Gai had 16 points, Silverio had 15 points and Miller had 12 points.
“We started a little slow in the first half,” Jerusalem coach Shai Ollerczyk said. He said: “We weren’t as aggressive as we wanted on both sides of the ball, but we made some adjustments at halftime and started working towards our transition game.”
Elsewhere, Hapoel Beersheva defeated Bnei Herzliya 94-90 to advance to the quarterfinals of the Israel State Cup and will face Hapoel Holon on Saturday night.
Southern Reds coach Oren Aharoni returned to his former base to watch new signing Mike Lewis score 25 points and help the visitors to victory.
Lewis scored 25 points, and Korechov and Gant each added 18 points in the win. Bourdillon scored 23 points and McGuire had 19 points in the loss.
Meanwhile, Hapoel Holon dominated Hapoel Haifa 90-73, and the Purples held the advantage throughout the entire 40 minutes. Meanwhile, in the North, Kiryat Ata defeated Hapoel Eilat 80-61 as Sharon Abrahami’s team took an early lead and never looked back.
Kiryat Ata will tip off Saturday night in the quarterfinals against Ness Ziona, who defeated Hapoel Afula 88-79.
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