By Amy Samin
Maccabi Electra Tel Aviv defeated Bnei Herzliya 107-88 at Menora Mivtachin Arena. Sylven Landesberg was outstanding with 24 points, including 6 of 6 from three, and 8 rebounds. Joe Alexander put on an exciting show with 20 points and 8 rebounds. Team captain Yogev Ohayon also had an excellent game with 18 points, 9 assists, and 6 rebounds, while Jeremy Pargo and MarQuez Haynes added 12 and 11 points, respectively.
Starters for Maccabi were Devin Smith, Jake Cohen, Jeremy Pargo, Yogev Ohayon, and Joe Alexander. Although the visitors scored first, it didn't take long for Pargo, Cohen, and Alexander to put Maccabi on top, 10-8. The starters continued to score, and Sylven Landesberg came in off the bench and drained a three from the right corner that made it 19-14 with four minutes left in the period. A tomahawk slam by Alexander and a dunk on the fast break (assist Ohayon) helped close out the quarter with Maccabi leading 27-19.
Herzliya closed to six, but Pargo and Landesberg sank a pair of triples to give Maccabi a double digit lead, 36-26 after three minutes. The visitors went on a run that brought them within five halfway through the period, but points by Smith and Landesberg reopened the yellows' lead. Cohen and Ohayon added points in the paint, and a trey by MarQuez Haynes and a steal plus slam by Landesberg gave Maccabi a 52-43 lead going into the break.
Once again the visitors started the period with a run, tying the score at 54 in the first three and a half minutes and causing Coach Guy Goodes to call for a time out. Landesberg, Ohayon, and Nate Linhart combined to make it 71-62, Maccabi, with less than three minutes left in the quarter. A catch and shoot in the left corner by Ohayon, Landesberg with another trey on the right wing, and a bucket and one by Smith gave Maccabi an 80-76 lead going into the final period.
The fourth quarter got underway with points by Landesberg in the paint (assist Smith) and Smith from downtown, opening Maccabi's lead to 85-78 in the first minute. Alexander, Ohayon, and Landesberg (6 of 6 from three) combined to put the home team's lead at 98-82 with four minutes left in the game. Maccabi continued to run while Herzliya had no response, and in the end Maccabi Electra Tel Aviv defeated Bnei Herzliya 107-88.