Maccabi Elite Tel Aviv will play in its 37th National Cup Final after a 83-66 win over Hapoel Samsung Tel Aviv in the semi finals. Gur Shelef led Maccabi to an excellebt start (21-7) and 21-11 at the end of the first period. But in the second half Maccabi got stuck and led by Dror Hajaj , Hapoel went on a 31-16 and took a 42-37 into the break. Their biggest lead was 44-37 but then Maccabi came back with an 18-8 run. Five consecutive pts by David Bluthenthal. put Maccabi into a 55-52 lead. The Yellow & Blues opened the final quarter on 57-56. Then Tal Burstein took over and his team won the final period 26-10. Burstein finished the game with 19 pts, 5 rbds, 3 Assists & 2 steals. An excellent game also for Bluthenthal with 18 pts (4-6 for three) & 3 rbds. Other scorers: Shelef 16 pts, 6 rbds, 4 Assists, Vujcic 13, Goree 9, Lewis 4, Lubin 2, Sharp 2. Top scorers for Hapoel: Hajaj 16, Bulatovic 16, Keys 13. In the Final Maccabi will play Maccabi Goivat Shmuel who beat Bnei Hasharon 86-83. Top scorers for Givat Shmuel: Moshe Brenner 20, Kelly McCarthy 19. For Bnei Hasharon: Silas Mills 16. Jerrod Stevenson 15.
