The Winner Basket League games continue at this time with the meeting between Maccabi Tel Aviv and Nes Ziona in the 20th round. At the same time, as part of the 19th round, Urbani Nahariya meets Hapoel Beer Sheva.
Maccabi Tel Aviv – Urban Ness Ziona
Without Elijah Bryant, Angelo Cloiaro and Ante Zizic left out of the squad, Yannis Sapropoulos’ Yellows want to recover from Oded Katash’s Panathinaikos defeat in the Euroleague with a eighth straight home win in the league. In the last round, the host recorded a hard 77:80 over Hapoel in the derby after erasing a long 16 lag thanks to a good performance by Chris Jones who excelled with 26 points.
On the other side of the match, Ness Ziona came back from behind in the last quarter to a 78:85 victory over Hapoel B’Shlosha. Thanks to the result, Brad Greenberg’s guest climbed to a positive balance and is in seventh place. The two teams may yet meet in the playoff quarterfinals later in the season.
First quarter: 18:27 to Maccabi Tel Aviv
Maccabi Tel Aviv quintet: Scotty Wilbkin, Chris Jones, Omri Caspi, Oz Blazer and Othello Hunter.
Ness Ziona Urban Quintet: Patrick Miller, Wayne Selden, Brian Angola, Tal Dan and Jerome Mainsy.
Oz Blazer opened the game with a dunk, Tal Dan answered with a three-point move with a basket and a foul and Jerome Maines’ Patrick Miller and a dunk increased the orange advantage to 5 and completed a 0: 7 run. Chris Jones shrank, Dan answered under the basket, but Othello Hunter and Omri Caspi shrank to the point. Wayne Selden increased to 6 with a three and a dunk, Scotty Wilbkin shrank to a three and Caspi reduced again to a point, but Selden responded with another three and increased to 4. TJ Klein and Wilbkin’s 6 points gave the yellow side the lead in a 0: 8 run, Tal Dan shrank in a single free throw, but Tyler Dorsey answered with a three and John Dibertolomao added a three of his own, completed a 1:14 run and increased to 9 .
Second quarter: 44:46 to Maccabi Tel Aviv
Dorsey increased to 11, Dan, Miller and Brian Angola shrank to just 5, but Dragon Bender answered with a three and increased to 8. Miller shrank to 4 with 4 straight points, Wilbkin answered with a three, but Selden responded with a shot from half distance and reduced to 5. Jones increased to 7, Selden answered, but Blazer responded. Mainsy shrank again to 5 and Miller reduced to just 2 in a three-point run with a basket and an offense. Caspi increased to 4, Selden answered and shrank to 2, but Jones buried a three and increased to 5. Angolan and a three by Selden set up a draw, but Wilbkin set up another yellow card in a critical shot with the buzzer.
Third quarter: 55:69 to Maccabi Tel Aviv
Bender Dyke with a single free throw, Miller shrank to a point, but Jones answered and increased again to 3 and Blazer buried a three that increased to 6. Miller reduced to 4 and Angola shrank by just three to a point, but Wilbkin and Bender’s three increased again to 6. Selden shrank to 4, Hunter answered with a dunk, but Selden responded and shrank again to only 4. Sandy Cohen scored twice from the penalty line and then added a 3-pointer that increased to 9, while Dibertolomao increased to 14 with 5 consecutive points that completed a 0:10 run.
Fourth quarter
Urban Nahariya – Hapoel Beer Sheva
The host tries to stop a streak of five losses at home and climb at least temporarily above the red line. In the passing round, Nahariya surrendered 104: 80 to Bnei Herzliya after scoring only 9 points in the first quarter. On the other hand, after losing 85:78 to Nes Ziona, the Southerners are looking to get back on track in an away game.
Nahariya started with 4 consecutive points, but the Southerners answered with a 0: 8 run and took the lead, while later, a red 0: 8 run gave Beer Sheva an advantage of 14. The Northerners shrank to 6 with a 0: 8 run, when BS led. 22:29 At the end of the first quarter. Rami Hadar’s team again ran away with a double-digit advantage of 11 points, but the Purples managed to force a close game and even shrank to only 2, but a three by Caleb Agada determined 47:52 Be’er Sheva in the half.
At the start of the third quarter, the Purples managed to equalize, but the Southerners responded with a 0: 8 run and set another advantage, but Nahariya managed to keep a close game, when BS led. 65:69 Only at the end of the third quarter. The Northerners shrank to just one point at the start of the fourth quarter.