Dowtin leads Maccabi to victory in Israeli League

Dowtin scored 19 as Maccabi improved to 5-0

Maccabi Rapyd Tel Aviv rebounded from its EuroLeague loss to AS Monaco with a 94-88 win over Elitzur Netanya on Saturday night to maintain a perfect record in the Israeli League at 5-0. The game was tightly contested throughout, with neither team managing to pull away for long stretches. Netanya, struggling at the bottom of the table, played on equal footing and showed resilience from start to finish.

Jeff Dowtin Jr. paced Maccabi with 19 points and 6 assists. Marcio Santos posted 18 points and 9 boards, and Gur Lavi finished with 14 points. Otis Fraizer led Netanya with 26 points and 6 rebounds and Shaq Buchanan had 17 points and 7 assists.

Fraizer set the tone for Netanya with a hot start, reaching double digits by the end of the opening quarter. On the other end, Santos kept his side in the game, and the quarter finished tied at 24-24. The back-and-forth continued in the second quarter. Maccabi made a 7-0 run led by Dowtin, but Netanya quickly countered to get within 48-46 at halftime.

After a slow start in the second half, a three-pointer from Oshae Brissett put Maccabi up by 9, and the lead soon reached double digits. Netanya trimmed the deficit, but Maccabi entered the fourth quarter ahead 72-61. Netanya made a run in the fourth, forcing Maccabi coach Oded Katash to take a timeout. Santos and Lavi delivered key baskets to restore a double-digit advantage and Maccabi held on at the line to secure the victory.