The Israeli team enjoys every moment in the EuroBasket 2022 qualifying campaign, and tonight (Friday) it went up to a 0: 5 balance in 71:79 over Romania, securing first place at home. The group in blue was led by Roman Sorkin with 18 points, who made only his second appearance for the team. Jake Cohen was also wonderful under the baskets and he added 14 points of his own.
Scored to Israel: Sorkin 18 points, Cohen 14 points, Madar 10 points, Blat 10 points and 7 assists, Manko 7 points, Pnini 5 points, Ginat 4 points, Weiss, 4 points, Ziv 4 points, Carter 3 pts.
Scored for the Romanian national team: Mesiosa 18 pts, Popa 13 pts, Nicolasco 8 pts, Badio 7 pts, Giorgi 6 pts, Uta 6 pts, Dicolesco 5 pts, Ola 4 pts, Dragosta 4 pts.
Although Oded Katash’s team has already qualified for the championship, and the duo games in Poland are just for the record, it did not affect their motivation. Romania, trailing by 17 in the third quarter, showed a lot of character and shrank to a 4-point lead in the final quarter. But Israel recovered in Money Time and closed the story with another victory for the collection.
It was possible to see that the missing staff and the lack of coordination had an effect in a certain way, and this was reflected in quite a few ball losses – 17 per game. But Israel’s defense defense ultimately made the difference – 32 rebounds and 6 blocks. It should also be noted that this game was a significant milestone for Spencer Weiss and Noam Dovrat who made their senior team debut. On the other hand, the Yellows kept a balance without wins when they met Poland in the last game.
So what’s next? Already on Sunday the team will try to end the campaign perfectly, with Spain waiting for it. As you may recall, in the previous meeting between the two blues they came out on top with an impressive 87:95.
the progress of the game:
Israel started great when Blatt found Ginat with a crooked eye, and the inside player was close. Katsch’s team is more dominant and Blatt and Manco’s threes set 6:10. Sorkin came into the game and completed five quick points with fine moves under the basket, after which Weiss scored his first points in the senior team – 12:22. The Romanians took advantage of Israel’s many ball losses and a three by Badio set up the quarter – 17:22 for the Blues.
Romania continued to narrow the gap early in the second quarter, and a three by Ola set up a gap to just two points – 20:22. The Yellows tried to put pressure on the whole field and paid for it, when Blatt sewed another three – 29:23 for Israel. The team raised the bar on defense, and Blatt and Sorkin led a run that provided a double-digit gap – 31:45 at the half.
Israel did not come out of the locker room well and the Romanians scored eight quick points, but Cohen stopped the momentum with an excellent three – 39:49 for the Blues. The Romanians started sniping outside the arc, but on the other side Sorkin takes care to maintain a comfortable gap from the Yellows – 54:45. The outstanding player in blue, Sorkin, closed the quarter with another impressive block and a close-range basket – 49:62.
Romania failed to score from outside the arc, and Israel took advantage of this with a 0: 7 run with the help of a three by Pnini and a huge dunk by Ziv – 69:52. The team in yellow shrank to a six-point lead after a 2:13 run. Blatt helped the Romanian momentum a bit with two points from the line. Romania refuses to give up and Georgie issued two big threes – 71:75 for the Blues. However, Katsch’s team recovered in the last minutes and recorded another victory in the campaign – 71:79 at the end.