May 24, 2012
Israeli League, National Cup: February 5, 2007
Tim Bowers - Hapoel Migdal Israel will have a new national cup holder after Bnei Hasharon upset Maccabi Elite Tel Aviv Monday in the competition's semifinals at Nokia Arena in Tel Aviv. Maccabi had won the cup every year since 1998. Bnei Hasharon led from start to finish on the way to a very impressive 94-87 win. The winners held a double-digit lead for most of the game. Maccabi made one last push in the fourth quarter and came as close as 4 points after a pair of Derrick Sharp triples with a minute to play, but that's where it finished. In the final, Bnei Hasharon will meet Hapoel Migdal Jerusalem, who easily smashed Ironi Ramat Gan 117-78, on Thursday night.

Already after five minutes in the game it was clear that something was wrong with Maccabi. The perennial champs scored just 2 points, while Bnei Hasharon's offense found its way to the baskets for a stunning 14-2 lead, when Maccabi coach Neven Spahija called his first timeout. Bnei Hasharon's lead grew by 2 more points before Will Bynum scored Maccabi's second basket after some 7 minutes. Sharp made it a 9-point game, but the final words of the quarter were spoken by Bnei Hasharon's Jason Williams, who set the final quarter score on 22-10. Lior Eliyahu woke up Maccabi with an alley-oop, but on the following possession he committed his third foul and Bnei Hasharon continued to hold a double-digit lead. With Bnei Hasharon up by 14, Sharon Shason committed his third foul as well and right away was called for a technical foul, which allowed Bnei Hasharon to take an astonishing 40-20 lead after Erez Katz nailed a three-pointer. Goran Jeretin came off the bench and with back-to-back three-point shots changed the pace of the game, bringing Maccabi within 30-42 with 3:25 to play in the first half. Nikola Vujcic with points and assists helped Maccabi finally close to a single-digit difference, but the half time score was 52-42 for Bnei Hasharon. Jamie Arnold threw down a big dunk to make it a 9-point game early in the second half, but Cookie Belcher scored 7 big points to give his team another big lead, 69-52, as Maccabi was still looking for answers. Moshe Mizrahi hit a corner three-point shot to set the third quarter score on 78-60 and then opened the last quarter with another bucket to make it a 20-point game. However Maccabi still tried one last time. Yotam Halperin and Bynum hit from behind the arc to make it a 14-point game with 8 minutes to play as Maccabi moved to full-court pressure. Vujcic made it 85-74 with 5 minutes to go as a scent of comeback was in the air, but Bnei Hasharon wasn't going to let this win slip away. Sharp with two amazing three pointers in the last minute somehow made it a 4-point game, but Bnei Hasharon was cool from the line and Sharp missed one last attempt that closed all hopes. Lee Nailon led the winners with 31 points – 22 of them in the first half. Belcher added 20 and Mizrahi 16. Vujcic contributed 22 points, 6 assists and 5 rebounds and he was followed by Bynum with 18 points and Sharp with 14, Arnold finished with 12 and Jeretin scored 10.

Jerusalem is back in the cup final after an impressive 117-78 triumph over Ironi Ramat Gan. Hapoel didn't leave any doubts to who's on top of this game with a huge second quarter. Ramat Gan was first on the board, and held a 16-17 lead after 7 minutes, but Hapoel finished the quarter with a 10-2 run to take 25-19 lead after 10 minutes. The second quarter was when Hapoel took off. Erez Markovic led Hapoel to a 15-point lead halfway through the quarter, and was there also to set the final score of the half at 59-39. Ramat Gan had no tools to come back against the energetic Hapoel. The margin extended to beyond 30 already after Terrence Morris and Timmy Bowers slammed the ball again and again to thrill the Hapoel fans and give their team another push. Ramat Gan stood motionless in front of Hapoel's performance as the margin kept growing. Markovic nailed a surprising three pointer to reach a team-high 25 points and set the biggest margin of the night, 113-74 shortly before the end. Morris added 20 and 10 rebounds, Bowers and Mario Austin had 16 each while Jurica Golemac posted 10. Jai Lewis led Ramat Gan with 17 points and Izik Ohanon had 16.


Monday, February 05, 2007
Yarone Arbel, Tel Aviv

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