By Amy Samin
In week 12 of the Israeli Winner Sal League, Maccabi Electra Tel Aviv crushed Nes Ziona 118-89 at Nokia Arena. Sylven Landesberg led seven players in double figures with 31 points, and MarQuez Haynes added 21 on 7 of 7 shooting from downtown. Brian Randle contributed 12 points, and Jake Cohen, Jeremy Pargo, Yogev Ohayon, and Devin Smith each scored 11 points.
Starters for Maccabi were Yogev Ohayon, Devin Smith, Alex Tyus, Brian Randle, and Jeremy Pargo. The game got off to a close start, with the score 6-5 Maccabi after two and a half minutes. Points by Randle, Tyus and Pargo were more than matched by the visitors, and halfway through the period the score was 16-15 to Nes Ziona. Smith, Randle, and Sylven Landesberg (twice from downtown) scored for Maccabi, but Nes Ziona's veteran player Meir Tapiro was on fire from outside the arc, and the period ended with the visitors up by one, 29-28.
Maccabi came out strong in the second quarter, with MaQuez Haynes downing two threes and Landesberg adding one of his own from the left corner, making it 39-31 after two minutes. The momentum continued as the period went on, with Landesberg and Haynes scoring to put the score at 49-31 (wrapping up a 21-2 scoring run) halfway through the quarter. Randle and Landesberg continued to light up the scoreboard, but Nes Ziona responded with a string of baskets that made it 54-40 with a minute left in the half. Tyus added a dunk (assist Haynes) and Jake Cohen scored from the charity stripe and on a fast break layup, and the teams went into the break with Maccabi leading 60-44.
Maccabi continued to look good as the second half got started, with treys by Randle and Smith putting Maccabi up by twenty, 68-48 after two minutes. A tomahawk slam by Pargo and threes from Ohayon and Smith extended the yellows' lead to 77-50 four minutes into the period. Pargo fired a bullet of a pass in traffic to Randle for the dunk, and Haynes added another triple to make it 82-57 with three and a half left in the period. Maccabi broke the game wide open, with points by Pargo, Landesberg and Haynes putting Maccabi's lead over thirty, 96-63 going into the final quarter.
It didn't take Maccabi long to hit the century mark, with another three pointer from Haynes, two points from Landesberg, and a triple by Cohen (from the top of the arc) making it 104-76 after four minutes of action in the fourth quarter. Arad Harari scored a layup (assist Haynes), Haynes added one last three (going 7 of 7 from downtown), Cohen scored four straight and Landesberg put the finishing touches on Maccabi Electra Tel Aviv's 118-89 thrashing of Nes Ziona.