After completing a huge home victory over CSKA Moscow on Thursday night, Maccabi Fox Tel Aviv return to the Israeli league to compete against Hapoel Tel Aviv at the Shlomo Group Arena (20:00, live on Sport5). The Yellow & Blue will be short-handed missing Angelo Caloiaro, and Sandy Cohen, who aren't registered in the local league, as Nate Wolters, Tarik Black, John DiBartolomeo join them due to injuries. Omri Casspi was placed in the roster but isn't expected to take part in the game.

Maccabi comes into the contest with a perfect record in the domestic league as their roster will include Scottie Wilbekin, Elijah Bryant, Quincy Acy, Otello Hunter, and Tyler Dorsey as the foreigners joining team leader Jake Cohen, Yovel Zoosman, Deni Avdija, Dori Sahar, Yonatan Atias and Amit Aharoni who made his debut last fixture against Hapoel Holon.

On the other end, Ariel Beit Halachmi's squad comes into the contest with 4 wins, and 5 loses after beating Hapoel Eilat 84:71 in the latest fixture. In 120 league meetings between the two clubs from Tel Aviv, Maccabi dominated winning 88 of them with the Yellow & Blue beating the Reds in the past 5 games, which includes a 3:0 sweep in last year's quarter-finals.

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Two days after the big win over CSKA Moscow with a short-handed roster playing without four players, Maccabi Fox Tel Aviv proved that also under challenging conditions, they are unbeatable in this form. The Yellow & Blue led throughout the game managing a 13 point advantage, Hapoel Tel Aviv was able to make a push leading in the fourth quarter thanks to four threes by Mark Lyons. However, Yovel Zoosman hit clutch shots in money time to keep the Israeli champions undefeated in the domestic league, 91:84. 

Maccabi opened the contest with Tyler Dorsey, Yovel Zoosman, Deni Avdija, Jake Cohen, and Quincy Acy in the starting five. Zoosman scored the first two-point of the game, Cohen exploited miss matches, and Avdija finished a beautiful alley-hoop to give the visitors a 15:12 advantage. Lenzelle Smith Jr. scored an easy bucket, but Cohen reached double figures hitting from the line, 22:19. Latavious Williams added two points, and Mark Lyons hit a three-pointer to beat the buzzer to give the reds a 24:22 lead after ten minutes.

Bryant opened the second quarter nailed a tough bucket and sank a corner three, as Smith Jr. scored from deep, and Williams took advantage of an offensive rebound to keep Hapoel up, 29:27. Maccabi went on an 11:0 run with Othello Hunter leading the way dishing three assists giving the Yellow & Blue a 38:29 advantage. Zoosman added on to the lead with a shot from behind the arc that earned Maccabi a 10 point edge. However, two three's by Smith Jr. and Tomer Ginat stopped the visitors momentum that made coach Giannis Sfairopoulos call a timeout, 43:39. Dorsey with a steal slammed it down, and Bryant with two driving buckets led the Yellow & Blue to a 50:41 lead going into halftime.



With the start of the third quarter, Dorsey hit a shot from three and dished a great assist to Bryant, ramping up the visitors lead back to double digits, 55:43. Zoosman added two points from inside the paint as Ginat drove to the basket, and then scored a three-pointer to cut down the lead to 8. Scottie Wilbekin hit his first points of the night from the line, and Quincy Acy nailed his first three at the buzzer, 72:60 Maccabi, after three quarters.

Lyons scored two shots from behind the arc to minimize the visitors lead all the way down to two, 71:73. Lyons stayed hot, hitting another three that gave Hapoel the lead for the first time since the second period, but Hunter responded on the other end with a polo dunk, 77:76. Zoosman showed up big in the final quarter, sinking two three-pointers as Acy hit one of two from the free-throw line, 84:79 with two minutes left. Lyons with a step-back three minimized the lead, however, Wilbekin scored his first field goal of the night in a clutch moment, 86:82. Lyons turned the ball over, and Acy hit from the line to keep the Yellow & Blue undefeated in the domestic league after a 91:84 win in the derby.

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