May 24, 2012
Israeli League, Game 25: May 17, 2007
Noel Felix - Maccabi Maccabi Elite Tel Aviv climbed cruised to another big win in the Israeli League, Hapoel Migdal Jerusalem suffered another embarrassing loss on Thursday. Maccabi improved to 23-2 by crushing Givat Shmuel 69-110, while Hapoel lost on the road 94-77 to Gilboa/Afula and fell to 18-6. Rishon Lezion secured its spot in the top league for another year by beating Ramat Gan 79-88 on the road. Ramat Gan started strong and led 23-13 after one quarter, but Rishon stormed back to take a 35-38 lead at half time. The lead changed hands many times in the second half before Rishon shut the door. Brandon Kurtz led Rishon with 20 points while Bryant Markson added 19. Darryl Wilson had 19 points for the losing side. Galil Elyon beat Bnei Hasharon at home 87-81 to keep its Final Four dreams alive. Galil now trails Nahariya by one win and the teams will meet next week in a feature mathcup. Against Bnei Hasharon, Galil led from the first minute, taking a 28-15 lead at the end of the first quarter. The hosts maintained the gap and took a 61-47 lead late in the third, before Bnei Hasharon made a 4-16 run to make it a 2-point game with 8.5 minutes to play. Galil woke up in time, climbed to a 10-point cushion again and added another win to its collection. Tre Simmons led Galil with 23 points. Lee Nailon had 27 for Bnei Hasharon. Ironi Nahariya topped Ashkelon 80-74 at the end of a very long evening. The game was delayed after Ashkelon's bus was late, and early in the second quarter the power went off several times. It wasn't far from being canceled before finally the power returned to find the teams close to each other. Ashkelon entered the last minute down 2, but Nahariya had better execution when it mattered. Juan Mendez scored 22 and added 16 rebounds for Nahariya. Sasa Ocokolic added 20 points. Ricardo Marsh led Ashkelon with 24.

Maccabi too a road trip to Givat Shmuel only to find out the game was no more than a walk in the park, with a 41-point win. Givat Shmuel took an early 8-4 lead, but that's where it stopped. Maccabi made a 0-10 run and finished the first quarter leading 14-20. The locals stayed in the game throughout the second quarter, and finished the first half down only 33-42 after Simas Jasaitis nailed a long-range jumper before the buzzer. When the teams came back from the halftime break, things changed. Maccabi won the third quarter 14-35. It started with a 2-15 run in 5 minutes, and extended it as the minutes went by. Noel Felix came off the bench and joined the party, alongside Yaniv Green and Yotam Halperin, as Maccabi combined for a total of 68 points in the second half, just 1 point less of Givat Shmuel's game total. Jay Straight led Givat Shmuel with 17 while Maccabi had Halperin with 19 points and only one missed shot. Green added 18 points with two missed shots and Felix gathered 15 with three missed shots. Jaime Arnold added 14 points and 10 rebounds.

Hapoel played at Afula in the second week of the season and barely won thanks to an amazing shooting night by Matan Naor. This time Naor didn't play even a second, and Hapoel once again is back on the losing track, with a 17 point loss. Hapoel played well early and led 20-25 after 10 minutes. Guy Pnini scored 5 straight and Terence Morris threw down a big dunk to make it a 9-point game, but then the locals made an 18-3 run and finished went to halftime with a 55-48 lead. A small 5-0 spurt midway through the third quarter made it a double-digit difference and 73-63 after 30 minutes of basketball. Meir Tapiro hit a three-pointer to make it 78-70, but Gilboa/Afula replied with a 12-2 run to decide the game, and walk off court with a big win. Tunji Awojobi, who won the ULEB Cup with Hapoel, led the winners with 19 points. Jermaine Hall and Yehu Orland scored 16 each, Rich Melzer added 14 with 8 rebounds and Charles Lee had 11. Mario Austin and Tapiro scored 17 each while Morris had 13 for Jerusalem.
Saturday, May 19, 2007
Yarone Arbel, Tel Aviv

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