Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv's title quest proceeds on Sunday as they'll host Hapoel Eilat (21:00, Live on Sport5 - Channel 55) in Menora Mivtachim Arena in Game 1 of the Israeli Winner League Semifinals series. The Yellow & Blue come off a clean 2:0 series win over Hapoel Be'er Sheva while Beit Halachmi's group performed the same sweeping Hapoel Haifa.

Giannis Sfairopoulos's coaching staff made one change to the 12 man roster from the Quarterfinals series, adding Othello Hunter in place of Dragan Bender, who, as recalled, finished the season after tearing his ACL in the first game of the Be'er Sheva series. The roster features Scottie Wilbekin, T.J Cline, Chris Jones, Angelo Caloiaro, Othello Hunter, Sandy Cohen, Omri Casspi, John DiBartolomeo, Oz Blayzer, Dori Sahar, Ante Zizic, and Yovel Zoosman.



On the other end, Hapoel Eilat, under head coach Ariel Beit Halachmi, had a great regular season, finishing in fourth place with an 18:11 record. Both sides met three times this season, Maccabi came on top 2:1 in those matchups. In their latest contest in the top division, the Yellow & Blue dominated the southern squad 95:72 as Tyler Dorsey led the scorers with 20 points, Scottie Wilbekin contributed 17, and Ante Zizic and Angelo Caloarioadded 14 points each.

"We are expecting a difficult series against a formidable opponent that was in the top throughout the regular season and won cleanly their last series", Stated head coach Giannis Sfairopoulos about the southern opponent, who later added about the importance of the fans going into the series. "We fought all season long to own home-court advantage during the playoffs, and now in the semifinals, it's time to gain power from it".

"I'd like to call out to all of our fans, come to the arena on Sunday and support us as together we will fight for the victory. For many months, the Coronavirus separated us. We missed feeling our fans close to us, and in the State Cup final, we saw the importance of having them with us. Now it's time to get those roaring sounds back to Yad Eliyahu".

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Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv was in total command Sunday night, beating Hapoel Eilat 88:72 in Menora Mivtachim Arena, grasping a 1:0 lead in the Israeli Winner League Semifinals. The reigning Israeli champions received help from 6,000 pushing Yellow & Blue supporters, who backed Giannis Sfairopoulos's squad to stay unbeaten in the playoffs. Maccabi will make the long journey south to Eilat for Game 2, as a win on Tuesday will secure a spot in the championship series.

Omri Casspi 17 points and Yovel Zoosman 16 points (14 in the 4th) had big nights, as Ante Zizic added 11 points and Chris Jones contributed 10. Scottie Wilbekin (8 assists) and Othello Hunter (9 rebounds) each finished the night with 8 points. Before the tip-off, Wilbekin and Zizic received awards for being selected by the fans and reports to the starting five of the season. 



Game Recap:

Maccabi started with Scottie Wilbekin, Yovel Zoosman, Angelo Caloiaro, Omri Casspi, and Ante Zizic, while Eilat opened the contest with Joe Ragland, Markel Brown, Ben Carter, Casey Prather, and Derek Ogbeide.

Zizic laid in the first two points of the series while Ragland dished an alley-oop pass to Brown, who finished it beautifully. Casspi stayed active on both sides of the court, blocking Ogbeide in the paint and, on the offensive end, scored 7 consecutive points, including a corner triple, 9:6.

Chris Jones contributed directly off the bench, laying in two off of a steal and two more after a successful drive to the basket, but Ragland led the visitors scoring 6 straight points and dishing two assists, tying the contest at 19. Caloiaro broke the tie with a shot behind the arc while Meron Ruina laid in two to close out the first 10 minutes, 22:21.



Othello Hunter converted his first two points of the playoffs, Prather and Jones exchanged shots from three as Jones triple initiated a 7:0 Maccabi run, 33:24. Brown and Ragland reduced the margin down to 5 with points in the paint, but a Zizic steal led to a Caloiaro bounce pass to Blayzer, who slammed home a perfect fastbreak, 39:30.

Brown ran a fastbreak finishing an important basket, and Ogbeide scored his first points. Yet, Giannis Sfairopoulos's squad opened a double-digit edge as Wilbekin knocked down a deep three from the sticker, and John DiBartolomeo elevated the Yellow & Blue fans with another shot from behind the arc, 45:34 at halftime.

Wilbekin opened the second half with a three and a steal, leading to a Zoosman layup that initiated an Ariel Beit Halachmi timeout after only one minute. Casspi grabbed an offensive board, floated a high arcing shot that found the bottom of the net as he was fouled, completing a three-point possession, and then dished an excellent pass to Zizic, who laid in two, 57:38.



Ogbeide began a 7:0 run, scoring 5 straight points, including a furious slam reducing the margin down to 12. Hunter and Caloiaro stopped the stretch delivering points off of offensive boards, and Jones connected from deep, 64:49. Ogbeide and Prather converted from the charity strike while DiBartolomeo found an open lane to lay in two and at the end of three quarters, 66:52.

Hunter took the ball from Roi Huber, finished on his own on the other end, and later dished an assist to Zoosman, who drilled a corner three, 71:55. Zoosman added another triple from the same cylinder, Prather answered with a three of his own and a mid-range fadeaway jumper, but T.J Cline laid in two straight layups and found Zizic inside, 80:63.

Huber knocked down a corner triple, and Ragland drove to the bucket and laid in an easy two, leading to a Sfairopoulos timeout. Wilbekin spotted Zoosman in three consecutive possessions scoring 8 straight points sealing the deal, 88:72. Maccabi grabs a 1:0 series lead with an 88:72 win in Menora Mivtachim Arena.

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