Cam Payne, who had just joined Partizan, scored a dozen points in the opening quarter to help the hosts grab a 28-17 lead, but Maccabi quickly cut down the advantage and took a 58-43 lead into halftime.
From there, Lonnie Walker and Roman Sorkin, along with TJ Leaf, scored at will to increase the advantage to 92-59 after 30 minutes as the yellow-and-blue cruised to the victory.
Walker scored 20 points, Sorkin added 17 points, and Leaf put in 14 points in the win, while Payne scored 15 points and Sterling Brown scored 12 points for Partizan in the loss.
“The return to playing in front of our fans really lifted us, and it means so much to us,” Maccabi Tel Aviv coach Oded Katash said. “This was a great win for us in a great atmosphere after a really bad start to the game. I really liked the attitude and the way we played together. We were more focused and aggressive after the opening 10 minutes and started to control the game. We are a more balanced team now, and we know how to win games. We were struggling and had tough moments this year, but the players never stopped supporting me.”
Sorkin also reflected on the win.
“We knew we couldn’t give them a chance because they are going through a bad moment right now, and they’re a really good team. We didn’t make a good start in the first quarter, but we reacted well and showed great character. We’re getting better each week, but we need to keep going. It was a big win for us and a perfect introduction to the new year.”
Walker shared his thoughts as well.
“I didn’t start off too well in the first half, specifically in the first quarter, but definitely picked it up as my teammates trusted me a lot. I keep saying this over and over again: we’ve got a lot of talent over here, and we’re locking in during practice. Everyone is doing a great job individually and collectively as a team. Defensively, we did a heck of a job, and we played team basketball, the Maccabi way.”
In Israeli League play, Hapoel Tel Aviv blasted Hapoel Holon 114-60 as the Reds came out flying and were a team on a mission as seven players scored in double digits to sew up the blowout victory.
Hapoel was on fire from the get-go as Johnathan Motley, Yam Madar, Tai Odiase, and Antonio Blakeney scored with ease to grab a 62-27 lead at halftime, while Purples coach Danny Franco was ejected after the opening 20 minutes.
Tomer Ginat, Guy Palatin, Bar Timor and Tyler Ennis kept up the scoring pace for the Reds in the second half to increase the lead up to 50-plus points as Dimitrios Itoudis’s team ran away with the blowout victory.
Ennis scored 16 points while Palatin and Madar each scored 13 points in the win as Jordan McRae scored 12 points for Holon in the loss.
'Played serious basketball, respect the opponents'
Itoudis talked about the win.
“We really played serious basketball, and we respect the opponents. We were the better team on the court from the beginning to the end, and we set the tempo on both sides of the court, and we hit our shots while we set the tone and defended their best players.”
Hapoel Holon Assistant Coach Yoav Shamir spoke about the loss.
“There is not much to say about such a loss; we all feel the disappointment and the pain from this loss… As a professional, you have to come to work, and you can’t go backwards, and we didn’t show up here in this game.”
In the capital city, Hapoel Jerusalem slipped by Maccabi Ra’anana 102-99 as Jared Harper’s points down the stretch helped the Reds hang on to take the win.
Yonatan Alon’s team was in cruise control from the get-go as Justin Smith, Khadeen Carrington, and Nimrod Levi propelled the hosts to a 57-42 advantage at halftime.
However, Willy Workman, Nate Laszewski, Tyrece Radford and Daylen Kountz kept Shai Segalovic’s team hanging around, leading Joe Ragland to cut down the lead to just a pair of points late in the game. However, Harper made sure to put in a key layup to close out the victory.
Harper scored 21 points while Carrington and Smith each scored 17 points in the win. Radford scored 19 points as Laszewski and Workman each put in 17 points in the loss.
Jerusalem coach Yonatan Alon discussed the win.
“I didn’t like the second half. I have some things in mind as to why this is the case, that we can’t hold onto a large lead, but I will keep it to myself. We have players other than Jared Harper who can take the ball and win the game, like Carrington and Cassius Winston. But the effort we had here is not good enough against the upcoming teams like Manresa, Hapoel Tel Aviv, and Maccabi Tel Aviv.”
Up at Gan Ner, Hapoel HaEmek defeated Ness Ziona 88-83, as Kyler Edwards, Niv Misgav, and Elijah Childs paced the hosts to the win, moving their record to 9-2.
Edwards scored 22 points, Childs scored 16 points, and Misgav put in 15 points in the win, while Rodriguez scored 20 points and Rowe scored 13 points in the loss.
Sharon Avrahami spoke about his team’s win.
“We were very concerned about this game and didn’t have Kadin Shedrick for this game. We went with a 10-man rotation, and we had to really work hard defensively, but we were able to take the win.”
Ness Ziona coach Amit Sherf was relieved of his duties following the game.
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