May 24, 2012
Israeli League Final Four, semifinals: May 29, 2007
Meir Tapiro - Hapoel Migdal Two historic rivals from the Israeli League, Maccabi Elite Tel Aviv and Hapoel Migdal Jerusalem, will face off for the title in a single-game final following their victories on Tuesday in the do-or-die semis. Perennial champion Maccabi Tel Aviv escaped a scare by pulling away from a late tie to win 93-87 over Galil Elyon, which happened to have been the only other team since 1970 to win the Isreali title. Jamie Arnold broke an 83-83 tie with 3 minutes left and Maccabi stayed ahead the rest of the way. Will Bynum led Maccabi with 29 points, while Arnold added 19 and 11 rebounds. In the other semifinal, Hapoel advanced with a big 96-83 win over Bnei Hasharon in an easier game than expected. Meir Tapiro was the top scorer for Hapoel with 22 points, while Mario Austin added 21 with 11 rebounds, Morris had 15 points with just a single miss and Bowers hit 14 with 7 assists. Hapoel and Maccabi will meet in the final on Thursday.

Maccabi took advantage of horrible 15-for-37 free-throw shooting by Galil to escape with a six-point win, 93-87, in the second semifinal. Maccabi had to work hard until the very last seconds, but will get the chance to defend its title on Thursday night. Maccabi started slow. Yaniv Green took Nikola Vujcic's spot in the starting five but soon went to the bench. Vujcic himself picked up 2 quick fouls whick allowed Galil big man Kenny Adeleke to dominate the boards. Galil took a 4-11 lead and later went up 16-24 on the way to a seven-point margin at the end of the first quarter, 18-25. Sasa Bratic hit a big three-pointer to start the second quarter and give Galil a double-digit lead. Maccabi made it back to 36-41 after 16 minutes behind points by Jaime Arnold but Galil stayed on top. Yotam Halperin finished the half with 5 points in a row for Maccabi to cut the difference to 46-48 at the half. After the break, Vujcic came back oncourt and tied the game at 52-52 but quickly committed his third foul and hit the bench again. On the following possession, however, Bynum hit a long-range shot to give Maccabi the lead for the first time in the game. Adeleke made it Galil's lead again, 55-56, but then Maccabi made a 10-1 run and Galil had to take a timeout down by 8. Galil woke up before it became too late, but kept missing too many free throws. Still Bratic's basket made it 65-59 with a quarter to play. Derrick Sharp hit a long range jumper to make it a seven-point game, and Bynum drove for a basket-plus-free throw as Maccabi took a 76-68 lead with 7 minutes to play. Tre Simmons stepped up for Galil to make it just a two-point game, 78-76, with 5 minutes to play, before Maccabi took a timeout. Bynum showed big heart with 2 big offensive rebounds that kept Galil behind, but not too far. Bratic penetrated and drew a fifth foul from Sharon Shason but didn't hit the free throw and Maccabi still held an 81-80 lead. Not for long. Simmons tied the score at 83-83 and drew the fifth foul on Sharp with a little over 3 minutes to play. Arnold hit one from the line and added a put-back to give Maccabi breath at 86-83 lead with 1:30 to play. Galil once again hit just 1 of 2 free throws, and when Simas Jasaitis fixed a Bynum miss with 26 seconds to play, Maccabi was in charge at 90-84. Galil went for a long-range jumper to save the game, but the ball went out and Maccabi secured the 93-87 win from the line. Bynum led Maccabi with 29 points, Arnold added 19 and 11 rebounds while Sharp scored 14. Galil had Adeleke with 22 points and 12 rebounds but made only 4 of 16 from the line. Simmons with 16, Bratic with 15 and Omri Casspi with 12 assisted the big man.

By dominating most of its own semifinal, Hapoel got the first ticket to the finals with a 96-83 win over Bnei HaSharon. Bnei had a better start when it took a 6-12 lead half way through the first quarter. Terence Morris stepped up for Hapoel and Mario Austin hit a big long-range shot at the buzzer to make it 22-22. Morris, Timmy Bowers and Tapiro hit 3 consecutive triples to make it 33-28 for Hapoel and when Guy Pniny scored 5 points in a row, Hapoel was up 41-30 in the 15th minute. Horace Jenkins made it a 15-point game for Hapoel but Lee Nailon and Moshe Mizrakhi cut that to just 51-42 at half time. Nailon continued to dominate and after 4 minutes in the second half it was just a 5 point game, 56-51. Austin, despite a shoulder injury, kept Hapoel up with a double-digit lead, however. Mizrakhi with another three-pointer narrowed the gap to 8 poins, 71-63, after three quarters. Before Bnei had any real thoughts of taking over the game Jurica Golemac and Bowers gave Hapoel a 16-point difference, 81-65, and that was it. Tapiro finished a great game with a three-pointer to cap a 13-point win, 96-83. Tapiro was the top scorer for Hapoel with 22 points, Austin added 21 with 11 rebounds, Morris had 15 points with just a single miss and Bowers hit 14 with 7 assists. Nailon led the losing side with 31 points, Cookie Belcher added 15 and Ousmane Cisse scored 14 in addition to 7 rebounds.

ISRAELI LEAGUE: Final Four Semifinals, single game
RecordTeamGame 1
1Maccabi Elite Tel Aviv (1)93
0Hapoel Galil Elion (4)87
1Hapoel Migdal Jerusalem (2)96
0Bnei Hashron (3)83

Final Four Semifinals Games
Game 1Maccabi Elite Tel Aviv vs. Hapoel Galil Elion93-87May 29
Game 1Hapoel Migdal Jerusalem vs. Bnei Hashron96-83May 29
Tuesday, May 29, 2007
Yarone Arbel, Israel

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