Israeli League Playoffs, Quarterfinals, Game 4: May 10, 2009 - ISRAEL

May 21, 2013

Israeli League Playoffs, Quarterfinals, Game 4: May 10, 2009

There is only one more game left to play for one remaining ticket for the Israeli Basketball Super League final four after Maccabi Electra Tel Aviv and Maccabi Haifa Heat won their respective quarterfinal series 3-1. Maccabi easily downed Ironi Ashkelon 65-97 as Carlos Arroyo shined with 21 points and 6 assists and Marcus Brown netted 18. Haifa worked hard for three quarter before exploding in the last on Bnei Hasharon's account, winning 68-87 and celebrating a final four berth. Davon Jefferson led Haifa with 23 points and 8 boards and Brooks Sales added 20. Haifa rejoined the league last summer and already reached the national cup finals, where it lost the title on a three-point buzzer-beater by Hapoel Holon. Now Haifa is ready for another big game against Hapoel Migdal Jerusalem in the league's semifinals, a great chance for Hapoel to revenge the cup semifinals loss to Haifa in the last seconds. Gilboa/Galil forced a deciding Game 5 against reigning champ Hapoel Holon after an easy 77-55 home win. In its last game in front of its fans, Oded Kattash’s men dominated the from tip-off to buzzer and will fight for a spot in the semifinals against Maccabi on Thursday night. Brian Roberts scored 16 and Brian Randle and Gal Mekel had 14 each to lead the winners. Luis Flores scored 15 for Holon.

Maccabi put the final stamp on its final four ticket after a 65-97 road win in Ashkelon to decide the series 3-1. Maccabi won the last three games in a row after dropping the first one at home in a shocking loss. Maccabi won the last three games by keeping Ashkelon on less than 70 points in all three games and with a 17-, 23- and this time a 32-point win. Carlos Arroyo led Maccabi with 21 points followed by Marcus Brown with 18, Omri Casspi with 12 and Lior Eliyahu with 10. Rahshon Turner recorded his last double-double of the season with 18 points and 10 rebounds for Ashkelon. The hosts were in the game for the first quarter only. Maccabi used a combined effort by Arroyo and Marcus Brown to finish the first quarter up 17-21. Ashkelon stayed not too far behind thanks to good minutes by Turner before Maccabi scored 7 points in a row to finish the half up 34-44. The locals never really recovered from that run and Maccabi used a 4-26 sprint in the third quarter to decide the game and the entire series.

Haifa advanced to the final four at Bnei Hasharon’s expense with a 68-87 victory in Game 4 to decide the series 3-1. After two seasons in a row at the top of the Israeli basketball scene, Bnei Hasharon was eliminated in the quarterfinals and will aim next season to climb back to the top. Davon Jefferson led Haifa with 23 points and 8 boards, Brooks Sales added 20 and Doron Perkins had 17. Ira Newble scored 20 and grabbed 9 boards for Bnei Hasharon and Meir Tapiro added 12 with 5 assists. Ousmane Cisse and Cookie Belcher scored 11 each in defeat. For a change Perkins was locked on Erez Katz's defense in the early minutes, but Bnei Hasharon used that only for a 19-18 advantage after 10 minutes. Haifa used a 1-8 run early in the second, but Newble kept Bnei Hasharon in the game and Tapiro scored a couple to keep his team within 36-37 at the break. Newble continued to score a basket, but Perkins found his spots and the visitors entered the closing quarter with a 52-54 margin. With the season on the line it was Haifa that woke up first. Sales and Jefferson dominated the rims and the latter set the score at 57-65 to force a Bnei Hasharon time out. Perkins made sure the difference would reach double digits and from there Bnei Hasharon was lost. Haifa never looked back and kept increasing the margin on the way to a great achievement in its return season to the top division.

Quarterfinals Playoffs, best of 5 games

Record	Team	Game 1	Game 2	Game 3	Game 4	Game 5
3	Maccabi Electra (1)	95	86	92	97	x
1	Ashkelon (8)	96	69	69	65	x
2	Hapoel Holon (4)	74	63	79	55	May 14
2	Gilboa Galil (5)	81	61	78	77	-
3	Hapoel Jerusalem (2)	78	92	88	x	x
0	Ironi Nahariya (7)	76	79	80	x	x
3	Heat Haifa (3)	66	75	74	88	x
1	Bnei Hasharon (6)	69	71	61	69	x

Quarterfinals Playoffs round games
Game 1	Maccabi Electra vs. Ashkelon	95-96	April 25
Game 1	Hapoel Jerusalem vs. Ironi Nahariya	78-76	April 26
Game 1	Heat Haifa vs. Bnei Hasharon	66-69	April 26
Game 1	Hapoel Holon vs. Gilboa Galil	74-81	April 26
Game 2	Ashkelon vs. Maccabi Electra	69-86	May 4
Game 2	Ironi Nahariya vs. Hapoel Jerusalem	79-92	May 3
Game 2	Bnei Hasharon vs. Heat Haifa	71-75	May 3
Game 2	Gilboa Galil vs. Hapoel Holon	61-63	May 3
Game 3	Maccabi Electra vs. Ashkelon	92-69	May 7
Game 3	Hapoel Jerusalem vs. Ironi Nahariya	88-80	May 7
Game 3	Heat Haifa vs. Bnei Hasharon	74-61	May 7
Game 3	Hapoel Holon vs. Gilboa Galil	79-78	May 7
Game 4	Ashkelon vs. Maccabi Electra	65-97	May 10
Game 4	Bnei Hasharon vs. Heat Haifa	69-88	May 10
Game 4	Gilboa Galil vs. Hapoel Holon	77-55	May 10
Game 5	Hapoel Holon vs. Gilboa Galil	-	May 14