Israeli League, Regular Season, Game 18: March 23-24, 2008
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The second cycle of games in the Israeli Basketball Super League came to an end with big thrillers, and a big performance by Omri Casspi who led Maccabi Elite Tel Aviv to an easy road win at Rishon Lezion. Casspi scored 24 points and grabbed 8 rebounds as Maccabi won 77-88 to improve to 14-4 record and keep first place in the standings yellow-and-blue. Hapoel Migdal Jerusalem suffered another road loss, this time 89-76 at Ashkelon, to finish the cycle in fourth place with a 10-8 record. Steve Burtt Jr. scored 23 points and Chris Massie added 21 points and 14 boards to pace Ashkelon. Meanwhile Bnei Hasharon didn't plan on giving Oded Kattash - the new-old coach of Galil Elyon - a warm welcome, and kept Galil in the last place with a 63-84 road win. Ironi Nahariya had the last ball down by one, 74-75 at home against Hapoel Holon but Otis Hill missed twice from the line and John Gilchrist turned the last chance over to see the visitors win. Accordingly, Bnei Hasharon sits in second place with 13 wins and Holon is third with 12. In Sunday's other game, Ironi Ramat Gan held a 15-point lead at halftime over Gilboa/Afula, but saw Amit Ben David sink a three pointer in the closing seconds to give the visitors a 72-74 win.
Rishon Lezion showed up for the game against the champs from Tel Aviv without Juan Mendez, who's suspended by the club until further notice. Even with him Rishon wouldn't hold a big chance to upset Maccabi, which saw another big league night by youngster Omri Casspi, who was the top scorer of the night with 24 points in addition to 8 boards and 3 assists. Yotam Halperin and Terence Morris made it a 17-26 Maccabi lead after one quarter. Lior Eliyahu joined the gang and along with Esteban Batista carried Maccabi to a double-digit gap before Derrick Sharp capped the first half with a three pointer to make it 37-52. Cedrick Banks and Tal Dunne tried to show some local presence and the margin went down to 10, but Casspi with 5 points in a row and later another three-pointer kept Maccabi safe in front entering the last quarter up 59-72. Morris and Casspi continued their domination in the last period as Maccabi took a 77-88 road win. In addition to Casspi, Maccabi got 12 points and 9 rebounds from Batista, and 11 points each from Eliyahu and Morris. Jarel Blessingame led Rishon with 17 points and five assists, Dunne had 15, Brandon Kurtz 14 and Banks 13.
Hapoel traveled to Ashkelon for a tough road game, and saw a big game by the locals' Chris Massie and Steve Burtt Jr. who joined forces to eliminate Hapoel 89-76. A close first quarter saw Hapoel take a 21-23 lead after 10 minutes with Dror Hagag supplying some big plays. Burtt and Massie carried Ashkelon on their shoulders, but after one half Hapoel still held a small 39-42 lead. The teams continued to go neck to neck throughout the third quarter with minutes where Jaime Arnold dominated the paint, on the way to a 57-57 tie entering the last quarter. Massie was going for every board and with some power moves brought Ashkelon to a 75-67 lead. Yuval Na'aimi, who's on loan from Hapoel, nailed a big three-pointer that sealed the deal and completed a big night for the local team. Burtt was the top scorer with 23 points, Massie had 21 points with 14 boards while Cory Carr had 14 and Na'aimi 11. Arnold with 19 and Guy Pniny with 16 were the only players in Hapoel to reach double-digits.
LAST GAME GAME 18
March 23-24, 2008 | | Day | Match | Result | | Mar. 24 | Ashkelon vs. Hapoel Jer. | 76-89 | | Mar. 23 | Ramat Gan vs. Gilboa/Afula | 72-74 | | Mar. 23 | Galil Elion vs.Bnei Hasharon | 64-83 | | Mar. 23 | Nahariya vs. Hapoel Holon | 74-75 | | Mar. 23 | Rishon vs. Maccabi Elite | 77-88 |
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NEXT GAME GAME 19
March 30-31, 2008 | | Day | Match | | Mar. 30 | Maccabi Elite vs. R. Gan | | Mar. 30 | Bnei Hasharon vs. Rishon | | Mar. 30 | H. Holon vs. Gilboa/Afula | | Mar. 30 | Hapoel Jer. vs. Ashkelon | | Mar. 30 | Nahariya vs. Galil Elion |
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| STANDINGS | TG | W | L | P+ | P- | | 1 | Maccabi Elite Tel Aviv | 18 | 14 | 4 | 1655 | 1459 | | 2 | Bnei Hashron | 18 | 13 | 5 | 1454 | 1345 | | 3 | H. Holon | 18 | 12 | 6 | 1494 | 1367 | | 4 | Hapoel Jerusalem | 18 | 10 | 8 | 1503 | 1497 | | 5 | Nahariya | 18 | 9 | 9 | 1482 | 1483 | | 6 | Ramat Gan | 18 | 9 | 9 | 1595 | 1620 | | 7 | Ashkelon | 18 | 7 | 11 | 1494 | 1614 | | 8 | Gilboa/Afula | 18 | 6 | 12 | 1438 | 1519 | | 9 | M. Rishon | 18 | 5 | 13 | 1434 | 1489 | | 10 | Galil | 18 | 5 | 13 | 1514 | 1670 |
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Yarone Arbel, Tel Aviv
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