By Amy Samin
Maccabi FOX Tel Aviv easily defeated Gilboa Galil on the road, 83-61 in the Israeli Cup playoffs. Guy Pnini led Maccabi's scorers with 19 points. Sylven Landesberg and Arinze Onuaku added 12 points each, Devin Smith and Taylor Rochestie contributed 10 points each.
Maccabi's starters were Devin Smith, Brian Randle, Sylven Landesberg, Taylor Rochestie, and Arinze Onuaku. The home team opened with a three pointer, but Landesberg and Onuaku, who had a great game, combined to put Maccabi up 9-3 after three minutes of action. Gilboa put a stop to Maccabi's run, making it 9-7 but Smith scored from outside the arc and Landesberg expanded Maccabi's lead o nine points. A trey by Dragan Bender put Maccabi up 19-9, but the hosts closed the gap slightly and the period ended with Maccabi up 23-14.
The start of the second quarter saw Gilboa chipping away at the deficit, but four straight by Onuaku and another triple by Bender made it 32-20. The hosts responded with a 9-0 run that left them down by only three, but Guy Pnini scored from the corner and Randle added a putback that made it 39-34, Maccabi, going into the break.
A three pointer by Landesberg and a deuce from Smith gave Maccabi a ten point lead as the second half got underway. Gilboa tried to slow the tempo, but Onuaku and Pnini put Maccabi's lead at 48-37. Another run by the home team narrowed the gap to five, but points from downtown by Smith gave Maccabi some breathing room. Pnini continued to score from outside the arc, and the period ended with Maccabi holding a 64-50 lead.
Rochestie increased that lead to 16 points at the start of the fourth quarter, and the yellows continued to dominate for the remainder of the game. In the end, Maccabi FOX Tel Aviv cruised to an 83-61 win over Gilboa Galil and advances to the quarterfinals of the Israeli Cup.