May 24, 2012
Israeli League, Game 27: May 24, 2007
Will Bynum - Maccabi Galil Elyon clinched the last remaining spot in the Israeli Final Four as the Israeli League regular season ended Thursday night. Galil stormed back from a 10-point deficit late in the third quarter to beat Ashkelon 102-84. Galil will take on perennial champion Maccabi Elite Tel Aviv in one semifinal, while Hapoel Migdal Jerusalem faces Bnei Hasharon in the other on Tuesday at Nokia Arena. Jerusalem finished the regular season a winner thanks to Timmy Bowers, whose last second basket beat Ironi Ramat Gan 105-107. Maccabi held off a red-hot Jerel Blassingame and Rishon Lezion to win 92-99. Down 64-74 with a minute to go in the third quarter, Galil responded with 11 straight points as part of a 30-4 run to put the game away. Omri Caspi shined with 22 points off the bench, Kenny Adeleke posted 16 points and 14 rebounds and Yogev Ohayon ran the show with 14 points and 11 assists. Ironi Nahariya, which would have had a chance at fourth place if Galil lost, went down to Gilboa/Afula 82-81. Jermaine Hall led the way with 17 points and 9 rebounds, including the game winner in the closing seconds for Afula. Nahariya, which led by 13 at halftime, got 18 from Jeff Greer. In the night's other game, Julius Page scored 28 points to lead Bnei Hasharon to a 92-90 overtime victory over Givat Shmuel.

Maccabi, playing without the injured Lior Eliyahu, was blitzed from the start from Blassingame, who scored 21 points in the first quarter alone as Rishin led 35-33. The point guard cooled off a bit in the second period, but the hosts were still within 49-55 at halftime. Throughout the second half, Maccabi would seem poised to pull away, but Blassingame and co. kept Rishon in the game. A pair of Damon Patterson threes gave Rishon a 92-91lead with less than 2 minutes remaining, but Will Bynum answered with a three-point play and after Maccabi stopped Rishon once, Patterson was called for an unsportsmanlike foul on Jamie Arnold, after which the defending champs killed the clock and walked away victorious. Bynum led Maccabi with 18 points and 5 assists, Arnold posted 15 points and 13 rebounds, Simas Jasaitis scored 13, Yotam Halperin 11 and Nikola Vujcic returned to action with 10 points off the bench. Blassingame finished with a season-high 42 points in defeat.

Jerusalem started out in fine form, scoring the game's first 5 points and racing out to a 4-12 lead. The visitors were on top 29-38 after 10 minutes and 52-70 at halftime in what looked to be a cakewalk. But Ramat Gan came out for the second half with new spirits and Darryl Wilson scored 10 points during a 19-3 run to get back in the game. Rob Brown's layup even gave the hosts an 85-84 lead at the end of the third period. That set the stage for a wild fourth quarter, which saw nine lead changes and five ties before Bowers came through once more with late heroics to finish Hapoel's season on a high note. Mario Austin paced Jerusalem with 31 points, 7 rebounds and 4 assists. Bowers netted 27 points, while Terrence Morris and Dror Hagag scored 12 each and Meir Tapiro 11. John Allen drilled five triples on his way to 28 points for Ramat Gan and Wilson was good for 26 points and 5 assists.


LAST GAME GAME 27 - May 24, 2007
DayMatchResult
May 24Hapoel Galil  vs. Ironi Ashkelon 102 - 84
May 24Hapoel Gilboa/Afula vs. Ironi Iscar82 - 81
May 24Gindi Givat Shamuel vs. Bnei Hashron 90 - 92
May 24Ironi Ramat Gan vs. Hapoel Migdal105 -107
May 24Maccabi Rishon vs. Maccabi Elite92 - 99
NEXT GAME
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STANDINGSTGWLP+P-
1Maccabi Elite Tel Aviv 2725226782206
2Hapoel Migdal Jerusalem 2720725482497
3Bnei Hashron 27171024152288
4Hapoel Galil Elion 27151225542513
5Ironi Iscar Nahariya 27141323622222
6Hapoel Gilboa/Afula 27111622542363
7Ironi Ramat Gan 2791823712487
8Maccabi Rishon Letsion 2791821702321
9Ironi Ashkelon 2781922862479
10Gindi Givat Shamuel 2772022512513
Thursday, May 24, 2007
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