Yellow-and-blue rolls over Ashdod in BSL

By ALLON SINAI
Maccabi Tel Aviv guard Marquez Haynes had seven points in last night’s 82-70 BSL win over Maccabi Ashdod. (photo credit: UDI ZITIAT/BSL)
Maccabi Tel Aviv guard Marquez Haynes had seven points in last night’s 82-70 BSL win over Maccabi Ashdod.
(photo credit: UDI ZITIAT/BSL)
Maccabi Tel Aviv picked up its third win in six days on Saturday night, beating Maccabi Ashdod 82-70 to improve to 8-2 in the BSL.
Just 48 hours after defeating Alba Berlin 95-89 to secure its place in the Euroleague Top 16, the yellow-and-blue was back on court on Saturday but it was never in any real danger of losing despite a groggy start.
“It was tough to play just two days after the difficult game against Alba,” said Maccabi coach Guy Goodes. “The guys were exhausted, but I’m happy we won. We knew we were facing five games over 10 days and we will need everyone to be fit both physically and mentally.”
Tel Aviv visits Maccabi Rishon Lezion in the BSL on Monday before visiting Cedevita Zagreb in Euroleague action on Thursday.
Devin Smith led Maccabi with 17 points and 12 rebounds, with Alex Tyus contributing 13 points and 13 boards and Sylven Landesberg finishing with a double- double of 13 points and 10 rebounds.
Terrell Harris had 22 points for Ashdod, which dropped to 1-9.
“The differences between the teams were quite clear before the game but I still feel we could have done better in certain aspects,” said Ashdod coach Lior Lubin.
Maccabi already led by 13 points (34- 21) in the second quarter, but Ashdod scored 10 of the final 14 points of the first half to move within seven points (38-31). The hosts trailed by just five points (51-46) midway through the third frame, but a 10-0 Maccabi run gave the yellow-and-blue complete control and rendered the rest of the game as garbage time.
Also Saturday, Maccabi Haifa’s struggles continued following a 92-76 home defeat to Bnei Herzliya.
Haifa dropped to 3-7 with its sixth defeat over the past seven games, while Herzliya improved to 4-6. Herzliya ended the first half with a 7-0 run to open a 44-35 lead and cruised until the final buzzer.
Jasper Johnson had 30 points, six rebounds and six assists for Herzliya, with Magnum Roll adding 21 points and 10 boards.
Ike Ofoegbu led the struggling Haifa with 15 points.
“This was probably our best game as a team,” said Johnson. “We played really well defensively. It was also the best shooting game for me.
Every game is big for us because we started 0-3 so we are just trying to get back on a consistent track.”
On Sunday, Hapoel Jerusalem hosts Hapoel Eilat.