Maccabi Tel Aviv continues its preparations for the upcoming season, and on Friday evening successfully passed an intriguing test in Cyprus, beating an ambitious Aris Thessaloniki 92-87 without Jimmy Clark, Daniel Theis, Will Rayman, and Gur Lavy.
Oded Kattash’s squad started with Yam Madar, Iffe Lundberg, Bonzie Colson, Jaylen Hoard, and Armando Bacot. Colson got off to a fantastic start, scoring eight of the Yellows’ first 15 points as they raced out to a 15-5 lead. Oshae Brissett provided a strong spark off the bench, and T.J. Leaf also saw his first minutes of the season after putting his injury behind him. At the end of the first quarter, the Yellows held a 21-15 lead. Colson kept it going, making it 36-25 midway through the second quarter, Hoard increased the margin to 44-29, and at the end of a very strong first half, Maccabi Tel Aviv led 50-37.
The Greeks completed a comeback in the third quarter to take a 63-62 lead, but Colson and Roman Sorkin ensured the advantage returned to the Yellows at 68-65 heading into the final period. Colson made it 82-77 with three minutes remaining, but Aris quickly tied the game at 82-82. Keaton Wallace restored the lead for Kattash, Brissett sank two free throws, and Hoard slammed home a dunk to push the score to 88-82 with 49 seconds left, sealing the victory.
"Aris is an excellent team. They pushed us and we responded well. We did a good job," Brissett said after the game.
Scorers for Maccabi Tel Aviv: Bonzie Colson 23 (4 of 6 from three-point range) and 6 rebounds, Oshae Brissett 19, Roman Sorkin 12, Jaylen Hoard 12, Yam Madar 9, Iffe Lundberg 9, Keaton Wallace 4, T.J. Leaf 4. Armando Bacot (16 minutes), John DiBartolomeo (15 minutes), and Shane Hunter (1 minute) played but did not score. Amit Ebo did not play.
Standouts for Aris Thessaloniki: Jeremiah Robinson-Earl 15, Nenad Dimitrijevic 15, Vassilis Charalampopoulos 12.