Maccabi Tel Aviv captured its 58th Israeli league championship late Tuesday night with a 83-79 win over Hapoel Tel Aviv to close out the final series 3-1.
Iffe Lundberg earned Most Valuable Player honors in what was a back-and-forth game that saw the yellow-and-blue come out on top after Maccabi’s Roman Sorkin hit a backbreaking 3-pointer as time wound down and then put down an alley-oop dunk to close out the Game 4 victory.
John DiBartolomeo got busy early while Yam Madar kept Hapoel close, but seven straight points from Jimmy Clark helped Maccabi hold a slim 22-20 lead after the opening period. Dan Oturu and Tai Odiase scored at will in the paint for the Reds, however Jaylen Hoard and Lundberg started to find the bottom of the basket. Still, it was Hapoel which took a narrow 43-42 advantage into halftime.
Hoard and Lundberg began the second half with points for Maccabi while Madar and Ginat for Hapoel responded at the other end to keep the Reds ahead 64-62 after 30 minutes of action.
Clark put in a layup to get the final frame underway, Madar went from deep, Lundberg hit a step-back to keep the drama to a maximum. Then Madar hit a jumper, but Lundberg dropped a layup to give Oded Katash’s team the lead. Clark fed Oshae Brissett for a dunk, Oturu put in points, and Brissett and Odiase traded layups as Madar dropped in a bucket.
'We really deserved it:' Oded Katash praises players, coaches
However, Sorkin drilled home a corner 3-ball with half-a-minute remaining and then added a dunk off a fast break to seal the win and send the Maccabi Tel Aviv fans into ecstasy.
Lundberg scored 21 points, Hoard added 14 points while Brissett and Clark each scored 13 points for Oded Katash’s team, while Madar scored 26 points and Tomer Ginat and Tai Odiase each added 13 points for Dimitrios Itoudis’s squad.
Katash reflected on Maccabi winning the championship.
“This was one of the biggest league titles and we really deserved it. We were exhausted but we wanted it so badly, so we beared down and were able to finish strong. I’m proud of the players and the entire staff. We came into this game with the last ounce of energy we had and I’m so happy that we were able to do it. We fought and battled and ended the season with a double.”
Itoudis spoke about the series as a whole
“It was another street fight like the last few games, unlike Game 1 where it wasn’t. We tried to contain Maccabi, but they were able to go downhill and score points. We hopefully will be together and compete for more titles going forward. There were questionable moments over the course of the season, but the smart thing to do is to learn from the mistakes and if we do that we will come back stronger next season.”
Hapoel big man Ish Wainright summed up the series from the Reds’ perspective.
“It was an amazing season and we didn’t finish the way we wanted to finish and I wish it would have been a better outcome. We had to rebound better and knock down shots in order to win. I’m not looking back at the last two seasons, rather I’m looking forward to the one coming up and our goal is to win. We deserve to win.”
Sorkin talked about winning the championship and hitting the huge shots at the end of both halves, especially his late triple.
“The game still wasn’t over and we had to calm down, but it was a big 3-pointer and I owed it to the team. I played a game-and-a-half that was under par. This was a very long season and it was a tough year in general for the country.
Hapoel was a great team and winning it was even sweeter the way we did it. We really enjoy playing together.”
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