After the painful elimination in the Euroleague quarterfinals, Maccabi Tel Aviv returned to the Premier League on Wednesday evening and kicked off its playoff quarterfinal series in Israel against Hapoel Be'er Sheva/Dimona. The Yellows, who will hold home-field advantage throughout the playoffs, chose to leave out Wade Baldwin and Josh Nivo, who is not 100 percent fit, with either of them able to return to the roster later in the series (each team can make only one change in the quarterfinals). Alex Poythers got dressed. On the other hand, Lior Lyubin and his players dream of a sensation, having finished the upper group in eighth place. Cody Demps and Tidegan Keita were left out of the squad.
Returning to La Liga after a disappointing game in Monaco. Lorenzo Brown (Photo: Liron Moldovan)
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Quarter 1
Maccabi Tel Aviv opened this game with a quick 0-5, but the visitors responded with an impressive 0-11 run within 3 minutes led by the excellent David Appiani. Ketch took a timeout, Maccabi Tel Aviv responded with a Hilliard triple and Poythers' dunk completed a 0-7 run and returned the advantage to the Yellows. Beersheba bombed from three but missed and a basket by Manco set up 15:19 for the Yellows at the end of the first quarter.
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Took Baldwin's place in the quintet. Hilliard (Photo: Liron Moldovan)
Quarter 2
Be'er Sheva enjoyed a good performance from Koleshov, who scored from long range and went up to 10 quick points, but Hilliard calmed down with penalty points and a three-pointer at 22:30 for the hosts. Appiani stitched a three, but Maccabi Tel Aviv escaped thanks to a resurgence by Roman Sorkin who celebrated in the paint with 28:36 remaining. Maccabi Tel Aviv had already escaped to double digits with another basket by Sorkin after a beautiful assist by Panini. Appiani sniped a three-pointer, but a basket move and a foul by Yiftach Ziv made it 34:43 for the Yellows at the break.
- sport
- basketball
- Euroleague and European basketball
Tags
- Maccabi Tel Aviv Basketball
- Hapoel Be'er Sheva in basketball