By Amy Samin
Maccabi Electra Tel Aviv suffered another loss on the road in the Israeli Winner Sal League, 89-72 to Hapoel Gilboa Galil. Sylven Landesberg led Maccabi's scorers with 19 points, Alex Tyus added 12 points, and Brian Randle was close to a double double with 11 points and 9 rebounds.
Maccabi's starters were Yogev Ohayon, Sofo Schortsanitis, Sylven Landesberg, Brian Randle, and Devin Smith. The start of the game was close, with Maccabi holding a 5-4 lead after points by Ohayon and Randle. Landesberg got hot and, together with Sofo, opened Maccabi's lead to 13-7 five minutes into the game. Gilboa woke up and went on an 8-0 run to take the lead, but Smith tied things up at 15 from the foul line as the period came to an end.
Another 8-0 run by Gilboa at the start of the second quarter put the hosts up 23-15 in the first minute and a half. Smith and Randle put Maccabi back in the game, closing to two, 28-26 halfway through the period. A couple minutes later, Nate Linhart scored his first points in the Israeli League and put Maccabi within one, but an unsportsmanlike foul got Sofo ejected from the game and the yellows couldn't pull it together. The half ended with Gilboa holding a 43-33 lead.
MarQuez Haynes opened the second half with a triple for Maccabi, but after that Gilboa once again took control of the game and extended their lead to 48-36. Randle scored four straight to put Maccabi's deficit back into single digits, but by the halfway mark the hosts had reopened their lead to 60-43. Landesberg and Randle continued to score but not enough to interfere with Gilboa's tempo, and the quarter ended with the hosts holding a 67-52 lead.
The hosts stormed to an 83-57 lead in the first three minutes of the final period and at that point it was clear that the game was over. In the end, Maccabi Electra Tel Aviv lost to Hapoel Gilboa Galil 89-72.