After a close first half, Maccabi Electra Tel Aviv pulled out a 92 – 78 victory over Barak Netanya at Nokia Arena, winning the quarterfinal series in three straight games and advancing to the Final Four, which will take place May 24 & 26. Eliyahu had an outstanding game (22 points, 6 assists).
By Amy Samin
Maccabi Electra Tel Aviv swept their quarterfinal series against Barak Netanya with a hat trick of victories, winning the final game on Thursday by a score of 92 – 78. Now they must wait for the outcome of the series between Eshet Tours Bnei Hasharon and Maccabi Offici Rishon Lezion (the latter currently leads the series 2 – 1) to see who they’ll face in the semi-final on May 24.
Head coach David Blatt tried out a new starting lineup for what would be the final game in the series against Netanya: David Blu, Jeremy Pargo, Guy Pnini, Chuck Eidson, and Sofoklis Schortsanitis. Netanya opened with Adrian Banks, Chris Watson, Shmulik Brener, Romeo Travis, and Joe Smith. Netanya kicked off the scoring with a three-pointer by Smith in the first seconds of the game, but he was soon answered by Sofo (who had an excellent night, finishing with 15 points). A bucket from outside the arc by Pargo gave Maccabi a 5 – 3 lead shortly after. The pair continued to play well, though Netanya stayed close: after four minutes Maccabi led by two, 14 – 12. Two free throws by Blu and one by Pnini gave the home team some breathing room. Five straight by Smith tied the score, and one from the charity stripe put Netanya up 18 – 17 with less than four minutes remaining in the period. A dunk by Richard Hendrix (assist by Lior Eliyahu) reversed that, but the game stayed close in the final minutes as Banks tied the score twice after points by Maccabi. Hendrix added another free throw, plus a steal and assist to Eliyahu for the dunk that made it 25 – 22 with less than a minute left, but Travis scored at the end of the quarter to cut Maccabi’s lead back to one, 25 – 24.
Sofo opened the second quarter with a dunk (assist Eliyahu), but then headed towards foul trouble and was replaced by Milan Mačvan. Travis and Elton Brown combined for six straight points for Netanya, which put the lead back in their hands, 30 – 27 after three minutes of play. Eidson drained a three from the left corner (assist Pargo) to retake the lead, but Netanya kept fighting. Eidson dished to Mačvan and then added two from the line to make it 36 – 32, Maccabi, just past the halfway mark in the period, but Banks and Travis scored to put Netanya up 39 – 36. Another dunk by Hendrix (assist by co-captain Tal Burstein) was joined by a three from Pargo at the top of the arc, ending the half with Maccabi up by two, 41 – 39.
.jpg)
A classic Blu-and-shoot on the inbounds extended Maccabi’s lead to 44 – 39 at the start of the third quarter, but Travis whittled that advantage down to two points with a basket and one before the first minute had run out. Eliyahu scored the first two of what would be ten points in the period, and found the time to dish to Eidson for a three-pointer. Sofo added a putback and Eliyahu racked up four more points, including one of his patented shots in the paint to give Maccabi their biggest lead to that point, 55 – 42. Banks and company weren’t quite ready to roll over and play dead, though; the guard from Netanya led a mini crime wave of steals that resulted in points at the other end. Maccabi’s players were unfazed; they had found their groove and stayed in it. A dazzling assist by Pargo ended in points for Eidson, Blu added two from the left corner, and in the play of the night a steal by Sofo went to Eidson who dished to Pargo, who delivered an around-the-world dunk that electrified the crowd and set the score at 67 – 52. Sofo added a hook and one, but it was a three-pointer by Netanya’s Eliran Gueta that ended the period, with the home team leading 70 – 59.
Playing off the momentum of that last shot, Netanya scored three quick points to bring their deficit back into a single digit, but Burstein and Hendrix soon had it back at eleven, 75 – 64 after two and a half minutes in the fourth quarter. In another exciting play, Eliyahu blocked Brown, gave the ball to Eidson, who passed to Sofo, who found Eliyahu for the points, 78 – 66 Maccabi. Eliyahu scored four more points including an acrobatic spin-and-in to make it 82 – 69 with four and a half minutes left in the game. Pargo’s fourth shot from downtown set the score at 87 – 71 with three minutes remaining. Pnini dished to Burstein for a three, and young Sean Labanowski came into the game for Pargo. The game ended with free throws on both ends of the court. Maccabi Electra Tel Aviv’s 92 – 78 win over Barak Netanya caps off the quarterfinal series and sends them to the semi-finals in the Lotto League Final Four at the end of the month.
Box Score:
Maccabi: Eliyahu 22 points, 6 assists, 4 rebounds; Schortsanitis 15 points, 3 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals; Pargo 14 points, 7 assists; Eidson 13 points, 9 rebounds, 6 assists, 3 steals; Hendrix 10 points, 5 rebounds; Burstein 8 points, 6 rebounds, 2 assists; Blu 7 points; Mačvan 2 points, 3 rebounds; Pnini 1 point, 4 steals, 2 assists.
.jpg)
After the game, Maccabi Electra Tel Aviv’s head coach David Blatt said, “I haven’t talked about the officiating all season, but people pay good money to see players like Sofo. They don’t come to see bizarre and irrelevant calls that put the spotlight on the referees instead of the players. Sofo plays a clean game, and I’m fed up with it [the officiating]. He was excellent in the minutes he played, as was Lior Eliyahu. We were able to distribute the minutes and that was good.”
“I want to praise Netanya, who put up a good fight and didn’t give up or look for handouts. We didn’t exactly shine, but we didn’t mess up. Now we’re looking for a practice game, and I hope we find one. I also want to express my thanks to the fans for their increased support this season.”
Lior Eliyahu, who had an outstanding game, said, “Like in our other games against Netanya this year, the first half was very close, and in the second we pushed ourselves. After the craziness of Barcelona, there’s naturally a let-up in intensity. I’m happy that after all the excitement we returned to normal. There’re no laws in basketball; I talked to David and we tried an experiment that I would come into the game from the bench. I don’t have an ego problem; I don’t have to start the game.”
