Israeli League, Regular Season, Game 25: May 11-12, 2008 - ISRAEL

May 21, 2013

Israeli League, Regular Season, Game 25: May 11-12, 2008

Maccabi Elite Tel Aviv's losing streak extended to four after a surprise road loss to Ironi Ashkelon, 100-91, on Sunday night. Maccabi dropped to 16-9 after losing for the first time its history to the club from Ashkelon. Steve Burtt Jr. led Ashkelon with 27 points and Mushon Ya'akusi posted 17 points and 13 rebounds in one of his best performances of his career. Vonteego Cummings led Maccabi with 21 points and Nikola Vujcic scored 20 points. Meanwhile Ironi Nahariya took a big step towards clinching the last ticket for the Israeli final four by stopping Hapoel Holon’s eight-game winning streak with a 99-78 win. Nahariya can secure its final four berth with a win in either of its remaining games. Hapoel Migdal Jerusalem, which will host Nahariya on Thursday, remained alive for that same final four spot by beating Ironi Ramat Gan 96-84 as Sharon Shason shot 6 for 7 from downtown en route to 20 points and Jamie Arnold added 19 points and 9 rebounds. Also Sunday, Ironi Rishon Lezion beat Gilboa/Afula 75-79 on the road and secured its spot in the league for one more season, while the hosts will most likely finish last. On Monday Galil Elyon hosts injury-plagued Bnei Hasharon.

Maccabi Elite Tel Aviv's losing streak extended to four after a surprise road loss to Ironi Ashkelon, 100-91, on Sunday night. Maccabi dropped to 16-9 after losing for the first time its history to the club from Ashkelon. After a big change in the rotation in the last weeks, head coach Zvika Sherf went back to the basics and his starting line-up of Vonteego Cummings, Yotam Halperin, Omri Casspi, Terence Morris and Nikola Vujcic played the entire first 14 minutes. Cummings was on fire collecting 17 points and 3 assists in that period, as Maccabi took a 29-39 lead. Esteban Batista came off the bench to give some rest to Vujcic, who enjoyed a good start himself, and scored 8 points in four minutes as Maccabi took a 40-51 lead at halftime. Cummings came back for the second half, but committed 2 turnovers in a row, which allowed Ashkelon and Steve Burtt Jr. to get back within 53-55. Morris kept Maccabi on top, but Burtt was on fire and scored 7 points in a row to lead an 11-2 Ashkelon run as the hosts took a 64-60 at the end of the third, a margin that could have been bigger if the locals hadn't missed good chances to increase the run. Ashkelon capped the charge with another bucket early in the fourth, but Maccabi woke up in time and hit scored 7 in a row to regain the lead. Burtt continued to burn the court and led a 6-0 spurt to give his team a 77-73 lead with five minutes on the clock. The teams entered the last two-and-a-half minutes tied at 81-81 before Burtt ignited an 8-0 run as Ashkelon took an 89-81 lead with 90 seconds on the clock. Maccabi didn't find the road to come back and lost the second half 60-40, as the local fans celebrated the historic moment. Burtt finished with a game-high 27 points, Chris Massey added 18 – most of them in the first half – Cory Carr added 18 himself and 8 rebounds, Mushon Ya'akusi posted 17 points and 13 rebounds in one of his best performances of his career and Yuval Na'aimi scored 16. Cummings led Maccabi with 21 points, Vujcic scored 20 points with 5 rebounds and 4 assists, Morris posted 16 points, 12 rebounds, 6 blocks and 5 assists while Casspi had 16.

Hapoel Jerusalem hosted Ironi Ramat Gan in a do-or-die game for the hosts, who still eye the last final four ticket, and earned the needed 96-84 win. Hapoel climbed to 12-13 in the standings but suffered from Nahariya's win over Holon, which keeps a two-win gap between them. On Thursday Hapoel will host Nahariya in hope to stay in the race. Sharon Shason led Hapoel with 20 points – including 6 of 7 from long distance – while Jamie Arnold added 19 with 9 rebounds. Erez Markovic scored 19 as well and Dror Hagag finished with 13 points, 10 assists and 5 boards. Brian Tolbert led the losing side with 19 points, Bennett Davis had 14 while Michael Kuebler and Elishay Kadir scored 13 each. Hapoel went inside to Arnold to take a small early lead, but saw Ramat Gan's Kuebler hit from long range and carry both teams to a very offensive oriented first quarter after which Hapoel was down 27-28. Jerome Beasley and Davis carried Ramat Gan while Hapoel had Ramel Curry in big minutes as the teams hit the halftime break still one point apart, 52-53 for the visitors. Hapoel kept pushing the ball to Arnold, but waited for the last two minutes of the third quarter to make the run. Shason with 5 in a row followed by Arnold and Markovic led an 8-0 run to finish the third up 70-63, and after Shason nailed two more long-range shots early in the fourth, Hapoel climbed to 78-68, its first double-digit lead of the night. Shason with yet another three, his sixth of the night, along with Hagag and Markovic kept Hapoel up by double-digits. Ramat Gan made a 0-5 run and later made it just a 6-point game before Guy Pniny hit from long range and added 2 from the line to secure Hapoel's win.

LAST GAME GAME 25 May 11-12, 2008
Day	Match	Result
May 11	Hapoel Jer. vs. Ramat Gan	96-84
May 11	Nahariya vs. Hapoel Holon	99-78
May 12	Galil Elion vs. Bnei Hasharon	74-82
May 11	Ashkelon vs. Maccabi Elite	100-91
May 11	Gilboa/Afula vs. Rishon	75-79

NEXT GAME GAME 26 May 15, 2008
Day	Match
May 15	Ramat Gan vs. Rishon
May 15	Maccabi Elite vs. Gilboa
May 15	B. Hasharon vs. Ashkelon
May 15	H. Holon vs. Galil Elion
May 15	Hapoel Jer. vs. Nahariya

	STANDINGS	TG	W	L	P+	P-
1	Hapoel Holon	25	18	7	2170	1956
2	Bnei Hasharon	25	16	9	1972	1883
3	Maccabi Elite Tel Aviv	25	16	9	2285	2084
4	Nahariya	25	14	11	2087	2056
5	Ashkelon	25	13	12	2134	2222
6	Hapoel Jerusalem	25	12	13	2105	2111
7	Ramat Gan	25	11	14	2187	2288
8	M. Rishon	25	9	16	1992	2075
9	Galil Elion	25	9	16	2103	2239
10	Gilboa/Afula	25	7	18	1989	2110