Maccabi Tel Aviv defeated Hapoel Gilboa/Galil 83-74 to take Game 1 of the Winner League final on Monday night as the yellow-and-blue will have a chance to wrap up the best-of-three series on Wednesday up north in Gan Ner.
Angelo Caloiaro and John DiBartolomeo helped Ioannis Sfairopoulos’s side open up a small lead over the course of the first half as Jehyve Floyd countered for Avishay Gordon’s team.
However, the game’s MVP, Scottie Wilbekin, moved into high gear over the course of the fourth quarter to help close out the victory.
Wilbekin led the way for Maccabi with 24 points, Caloiaro added 16 points and Ante Zizic scored 11 points in the win. Floyd was the Gilboa high scorer with 17 points, Iftach Ziv chipped in with 13 points and Kerry Blackshear scored 10 points in defeat.
“We knew that Gilboa is a good team and that they wouldn’t give up,” said Sfairopoulos following the game. “They always tried to cut down the difference from when we had a 10 or 11-point lead to six or seven points. We can’t relax and we need to fight until the end.”
Wilbelkin reflected on the keys to the win.
“We played well as a team and we focused on our defense limiting their transition and offensive rebounds. I think we did a good job with our game plan.”
Gilboa’s coach, Gordon, noted that there is a lot for his team to build on and that his players would not be hanging their heads.
“We came up short in aggressiveness and offensive rebounds,” Gilboa coach Gordon explained. “We will work on this and we aren’t going to wave the white flag. We worked hard all season for this.”
Floyd also looked back on the loss.
“In the first quarter we didn’t come out aggressive, including me, and they are a good team. They make you pay when you make a mistake and we have to be better.”
Right after tipoff, Zizic scored in the paint while Wilbekin and Caloiaro went from deep for Tel Aviv.
Floyd countered with a pair of baskets inside for Hapoel Gilboa, but the yellow-and-blue stayed in front 13-4 midway through the first quarter.
Ziv went in for a layup, Artzi hit a corner three-pointer and Blackshear scored off a broken play in the paint, but Caloiaro continued with the hot hand from downtown as the hosts held a 21-15 lead after 10 minutes of play.
DiBartolomeo drilled home a pair of triples to open the second quarter while Othello Hunter added a bucket inside as Blackshear scored for visitors, with Sfairopoulos’s squad maintaining the upper hand at 31-20 with 6:22 left in the half.
Artzi went off the glass, Joe Thomasson hit a baseline jumper and Blackshear scored a reverse layup, but Omri Casspi tipped the ball in for Tel Aviv, Zizic powered inside, Caloiaro added yet another three and Chris Jones scored on an off-balance jumper.
Isaiah Cousins scored a pair of baskets and Thomasson dialed up from long-distance to cut the Maccabi advantage to 42-36 at the break.
The yellow-and-blue put in free-throws to begin the third quarter, but Floyd raised the ire of the Maccabi fans with two monster dunks before baskets by Caloiaro and Wilbekin kept the home team in the lead (50-42) midway through the frame.
Ziv and Artzi came right back with baskets, but Casspi scored from both inside and outside to raise the roof and Jones went in for a layup to keep the hosts in front 57-50 after 30 minutes of end-to-end action.
Wilbekin put in a pair of left-handed baskets to get the fourth quarter off and running and DiBartolomeo drilled home a triple, but Floyd and Ziv answered at the other end of the court to keep Gilboa close, down 66-57 with 6:13 remaining in regulation time.
Zizic scored on a broken play, Wilbekin beat his defender for a straight path to the hoop, while Cousins and Floyd scored for Gilboa.
Then Wilbekin came right back down and nailed a three-pointer as the shot clock expired to bump the lead up to 73-63 with three minutes left in the contest.
Ziv hit a last-gasp three for the visitors, but Yovel Zoosman checked in with his first points of the night with a baseline layup and Zizic added points inside to wrap up the victory for Maccabi and push it closer to yet another local title.