A difficult evening in front of 2,500 spectators in the beautiful hall in Nahariya.
The hosts led 14-3, Maccabi closed to 19-15 but at end of the first quarter Nahariya led 29-19. Three consecutive 3 pointers by David Bluthenthal made it 31-28 for the locals but Arthur Lee (23 pts in the first half) swept Nahariya to a record 19 pts lead (52-33). At the half they led 55-43.
In the third we saw a different Maccabi, mainly in defence. Lior Lubin stopped Lee and Nahariya remained scorelss for the first five minutes. Maccabi ran 16-3 and Vujcic gave them the lead for the first time (59-58). At the end of the third, Maccabi led 68-68.
In the final quarter Beno Udrih was a major contributor (12 pts). Tal Burstein’s fourth three pointer, made it 91-82 for Maccabi. The final score 93-87 and 2-0 in the playoff finals. : Vujcic Nikola Vujcic led Maccabi with 25 pts, 9 rbds, 4 ass, & 2 blocked shots.
