The Israeli Winner League returns to action Thursday evening as Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv heads up north to face Hapoel Gilboa/Galil in Romema Arena in Haifa (18:00, Live on Sport5 - Channel 55) following the security situation that has occurred on us these last couple of weeks. A third win in as many games in the top division will provide Giannis Sfairopoulos's squad playoff home-court advantage.

The Yellow & Blue will be without Tyler Dorsey, who requested to leave the country because of the , as Othello Hunter, Eidan Alber, and Yonatan Atias will sit out of this contest. Maccabi's roster will feature Scottie Wilbekin, T.J Cline, Chris Jones, Angelo Caloiaro, Sandy Cohen, Omri Casspi, John DiBartolomeo, Oz Blayzer, Dragan Bender, Dori Sahar, Ante Zizic, and Yovel Zoosman.

The northern opponent comes in as the second-ranked team in the Winner League as  Avishai Gordon's foreigners decided to stay in Israel despite the latest status. Earlier this season, the Reds beat the Yellow & Blue both times as Giannis Sfairopoulos's unit comes in determined towards delivering a different result.

The Reds' biggest offensive threat comes from the hands of Kerry Blackshear, who's been averaging 15.1 points alongside 7.9 boards, while Joe Thomasson, in his second season up north, has been handling backcourt duties providing 13.9 points and 4.4 assists per games. Yiftach Ziv has been Gordon's top Israeli producer scoring 12.7 points while dishing 4.4 assists per game.

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After two weeks without basketball, Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv's return to the court was a successful one beating Hapoel Gilboa/Galil 67:65 in a tight contest between two of the top-ranked teams in the Israeli Winner League. The win was significant for the Yellow & Blue as they clinched home-court advantage throughout the playoffs with two games left in the top division. On Saturday, Maccabi will host Hapoel Holon (20:30) in Menora Mivtachim Arena for another top division clash.

Scottie Wilbekin (23 points) and Ante Zizic (17 points & 7 rebounds), who was dominant in the paint, scored a total of 40 out of the 67 points on what was an understandable off night offensively after the long two-week break. However, Sfairopoulos's group continued to show why they are the first ranked defense in the league, stopping the hosts on 65 points.

Game Recap

Giannis Sfairopoulos started with Scottie Wilbekin, Yovel Zoosman, Angelo Caloiaro, Omri Casspi, and Ante Zizic, as Avishai Gordon sent out Isaiah Cousins, Yiftach Ziv, Netanel Artzi, Jehyve Floyd, and Kerry Blackshear.



Casspi opened the contest with a hard slam after an assist from Wilbekin, the Israeli forward added two more points on a beautiful post move and found Wilbekin for a corner step-back triple, 7:4. Bender denied Artzi in the paint, T.J Cline recorded his first points of the night after grabbing an offensive board, while on the other end, Gil Benny and Ziv got the Reds offense going and gave them the lead after the last one laid in two high off the glass, 10:11.

Chris Jones found Zizic under the rim who powered home a two-handed slam, the guard added two from the charity strike as Ziv closed out the first ten minutes with a shot behind the arc, 16:16.

Zizic and Artzi exchanged buckets in the paint, Wilbekin completed a four-point possession after knocking down a three-pointer as he was fouled, and the Croatian big man gave the Yellow & Blue a 6 point edge after scoring 4 straight points, 27:21. Cousins was aggressive on both sides of the field, hitting a floater and, together with Artzi, who drilled a three brought Gilboa back, 28:28.

Zizic added on to his dominance in the paint scoring 6 of Maccabi's last 8 points of the quarter, while Avishai Gordon's squad converted six consecutive free throws, and Benny tied the game at 36 with a floater from the top of the key, 36:36 at halftime.



Caloiaro knocked down a three-pointer to open up the second half, Blackshear responded with one of his own, and Ziv dished an alley-oop assist to Floyd, who showed his athleticism and slammed it home, 39:42. Wilbekin got into a groove offensively, scoring 8 consecutive points, including two deep triples, and Jones spun his defender and laid in two completing an 11:0 run, 50:42. 

Amit Gershon stopped the stretch and narrowed the lead down to 5 with a three-pointer as each team couldn't find the basket in the final 2 minutes of the third quarter, 50:45 heading into the last 10 minutes.

Bender and Caloiaro opened the quarter with shots from deep while Blackshear reached double figures after hitting from the free-throw line, and Ziv laid in two, keeping Gilboa in the thick of things, 56:49. Wilbekin drained multiple mid-range floaters, and Caloiaro drained his third triple of the night, giving Maccabi their first double-digit lead of the night, 61:49 midway through the quarter.

The Yellow & Blue top performers of the night, Wilbekin and Zizic, added on to the lead, but Avishai Gordon's unit didn't give up and went on a late run. Artzi started it with two straight buckets inside, Floyd added two dunks, and Blackshear's two consecutive buckets in the paint recorded 12 Red unanswered points, diminishing the lead all the way down to 2 with 17 seconds left on the game clock, 65:63. 

Wilebkin stopped the run and secured the win after converting twice from the charity strike as Floyd added one last basket, which set the final score. Maccabi beat Hapoel Gilboa/Galil 67:65.

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