U18 Maccabi Tel Aviv grabbed its second victory in as many games at the Euroleague Basketball Adidas Next Generation Tournament Patras as it eased past debutant U18 ZPA Tbilisi 44-93. Maccabi survived a 6-minute scoreless stretch in the second quarter but still cruised to a 2-0 mark in Group A. Ofri Naveh paced five players in double figures with 16 points while Shachar Doron had 12 points, Tomer Agmon and Roi Behar both scored 11 points and Ido Menchel flirted with a triple double with 10 points, 9 rebounds and 8 assists. Luka Alavidze and Giorgi Ochkhikidze were Tbilisi’s leading scorer with 9 points in the loss, which dropped the debutant to 0-2 in the group.

Maccabi scored the first 7 points before Tbilisi had a free throw from Ilia Chavchandize more than 2 minutes into the game, and it was 1-10 before Luka Kutchukhidze scored the Georgian side’s first basket. Frederiks Meinarts hit a three-pointer and the deficit was 8-14. Maccabi started to get hot from the outside as Behar, Menchel and Omer Mayer all made three-pointers in a 2-16 run for a 10-30 lead after 10 minutes. Maccabi’s offense totally dried up in the second quarter, not scoring in the first 6 minutes while Ochkhikidze and Alavidze combined for 9 points in a 12-0 surge to pull within 22-30. Elad Bakshi finally got Maccabi on the scoreboard again and the team held Tbilisi scoreless for 4 minutes with 0-14 run and led 24-44 at the break.

Tbilisi failed to score the first 2 minutes of the second half and 4 points from Naveh increased the gap to 24-50. Maccabi kept limiting baskets and remained in control and scored the final 7 points of the third quarter to lead 34-64 after 30 minutes. Maccabi did not let up at all in the final frame with Doron bookending a 5-17 run with three-pointers to lead 39-81.