Maccabi Tel Aviv blew past Hapoel Beersheba 108-83 as Jaylen Hoard and Roman Sorkin once again paced the yellow-and-blue to the victory as it punched its ticket to the semifinals with a 2-0 series win and will now play Hapoel Holon.
The Southern Reds began well to grab a 25-24 after the opening frame, but Sorkin and Hoard started to pour in the points in the second quarter to go up 53-43 by halftime, and Tel Aviv never looked back to notch the win.
Hoard scored 19 points, Sorkin added 18 points, and Marcio Santos scored 13 points in the victory, while Marquis Barnett scored 26 points and LJ Figueroa put in 22 points in the loss.
Oded Katash commented on his team's performance after the game.
“Defensively, it took us 14–15 minutes to get into the flow of the game. Overall, I'm pleased with our approach; I think we came in motivated and determined. We didn't start with enough focus, and there were a few shots they made that we could live with. After that, I think we played the right way, offensively as well. Overall, I'm very satisfied.”
Hoard, the game’s MVP, shared his perspective.
“It feels good. I'm happy that we were able to do a good job both defensively and offensively. I think we could have played better in the first game, so this was a great response.”
Hapoel Holon defeats Bnei Herzliya
Meanwhile, Hapoel Holon downed Bnei Herzliya 99-84 as the trio of Tray Croft, Adama Sanogo, and Kevion Taylor was too much to handle in the 2-0 quarterfinal series sweep as the Purples advanced to the semis against Mac TA, beginning on Monday night at Yad Eliyahu.
The other last-four duel will feature Hapoel Jerusalem vs the winner of the Hapoel Tel Aviv-Maccabi Rishon Lezion series, which was only decided late Thursday night.
Predrag Krunic’s team controlled the pace of play throughout the matchup and finally were able to pull away at the start of the fourth quarter when Croft hit a quartet of baskets to build up a double-digit lead and run away with the win.
Holon coach: 'Our guys deserved to win'
Sanogo scored 26 points, Taylor added 21 points, and Croft put in 19 points in the victory, while Zack Bryant scored 20 points and added 13 assists, Justin Edler-Davis put in 19 points, and Bruinsma scored 18 points in the loss.
Holon coach Predrag Krunic spoke about the win.
“This was a typical playoff game with both teams a bit nervous in the first half. The second half we saw some better basketball and our guys deserved to win the series.”
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