By Stefan Djordjevic / sdjordjevic@eurohoops.net
Maccabi Tel Aviv’s been free of Turkish Airlines EuroLeague obligations this week as their duel against ASVEL got postponed and the Israeli team focused on the domestic action by beating Maccabi Rishon 89-72.
Ante Zizic was leading the charge in an impressive way with 20 points on 7-7 from the field along with nine rebounds, three assists, four blocks, and one steal. He also got fouled six times and accumulated a total of 39 PIR.
Elijah Bryant helped with 15 points in addition to Chris Jones’s 13 and Omri Casspi’s 11 points. On the opposing side, Noam Avivi scored 16, Golan Gutt 13, and Jeremy Pargo 12 points.
Zizic’s presence was undeniable and unsolvable for Rishon as the winning team went ahead 43-34 at halftime and led by as much as 23 points after the break (67-44), leaving no doubts about the final outcome.
Maccabi Tel Aviv improved to 16-3 at teh top of the Israeli League standings compared to Rihson’s 7-10.
The EuroLeague squad will play one more game in the national championship, against Hapoel Haifa, after which they will focus solely on the European competition with six straight games in a span of two weeks.