By Amy Samin
In a tough game on the road hard on the heels of the victory in Berlin, Maccabi Electra Tel Aviv was defeated by Maccabi Rishon Lezion 105-85. Sylven Landesberg led Maccabi's scorers with 17 points. Joe Alexander scored 15 points, Devin Smith added 12, Ben Altit scored 11 points, and Jake Cohen contributed 10 points.
Maccabi's starters were Joe Alexander, Jeremy Pargo, Sylven Landesberg, Devin Smith, and Jake Cohen. Landesberg kicked things off with a triple from the top of the arc, but Swann responded quickly for Rishon. The score stayed close, and was tied at 8 three minutes into the period after points by Smith. The hosts took the lead briefly, but points by Alexander, MarQuez Haynes, and Alexander made it 17-13 Maccabi with less than four minutes left in the period. The game stayed close, and the score was 23-22 Maccabi as the quarter came to an end.
It didn't take Rishon long to take control of the tempo of the game, and after two and a half minutes the hosts held a 34-27 lead. Pargo and Landesberg cut the deficit slightly, though Maccabi trailed by five halfway through the period, 41-36. Rishon continued to work both ends of the floor, and a trey by Smith and a bucket and one by Ben Altit didn't help much. The teams went into the break with Rishon up by ten, 54-44.
Maccabi showed signs of making a comeback in the third quarter, with a three pointer from Jake Cohen and points from Altit, Smith and Alexander. Maccabi's defense held Rishon scoreless for several minutes while cutting their deficit to a single digit, 69-60 with three minutes left in the period. But Rishon went on another scoring run and reopened their lead to 80-65 going into the final period.
The fourth quarter was also dominated by the hosts, who had increased their lead to 94-73 at the halfway mark. The energy of Rishon ended up being too much for Maccabi, and the game ended in a 105-85 victory for Rishon over Maccabi Electra Tel Aviv.