After leading by 7 with two and a half minutes remaining, Maccabi Haifa lost their historic opportunity to win in Nokia Arena. A great play by Chuck Eidson put Maccabi up with seconds left in the game. Pargo delivered another huge game, scoring a double-double (22 points, 12 assists).
By Amy Samin
Maccabi Electra Tel Aviv returned to the Israeli Lotto League last night after a two week break, facing off against Maccabi Haifa at Nokia Arena. The home team led for two and a half quarters, but the team from Haifa scrapped their way to a lead late in the fourth quarter. Guy Pnini and Chuck Eidson came through in the clutch to give Maccabi Electra Tel Aviv a 98 – 95 win. Pargo was once again outstanding, with 22 points and 12 assists; Eidson (10 assists), Hendrix and Pnini each scored 15. Burstein (illness), Perkins and Green (injuries) did not play.
Maccabi Electra Tel Aviv led off with Jeremy Pargo, Lior Eliyahu, Guy Pnini, Chuck Eidson, and Sofoklis Schortsanitis, while Haifa’s starters were Frank Robinson, Jermaine Jackson, Tyler Wilkerson, Sylven Landesberg, and Elishay Kadir. Eliyahu and Sofo scored early for Maccabi, but Kadir and Robinson posted points for the visitors and gave Haifa a 6 – 5 lead after almost two minutes. The lead bounced back and forth between the teams for the next few minutes, until Richard Hendrix’s block on Landesberg gave Maccabi the boost they needed to retake control of the game. Eidson pulled down a defensive rebound and Eliyahu scored four straight to make it 16 – 12. Eidson then slammed home the ball off a slick assist by Pargo, and at the halfway mark Maccabi led 18 – 12. Robert Rothbart nearly-singlehandedly kept his team in the game for the remainder of the period, but his eight points were outmatched by Maccabi, who got a bucket and one from Hendrix (assist Eidson), an in-your-face dunk by Pargo (assist Eliyahu), points by Eliyahu (assist Eidson), and free throws and a long two from the corner by Pnini to make it 32 – 24, Maccabi. The quarter ended with a goaltending charge against Haifa to round Maccabi’s lead up to ten, 34 – 24.
Pargo on the right wing and Milan Mačvan on the left delivered the first two three-pointers of the game (while providing the assists to one another as well) in the early minutes of the second quarter to put Maccabi up 40 – 28. Points by Wilkerson and Jackson cut that lead in half, but Maccabi responded with points from Sofo from the foul line and a steal by Eidson that translated into a spin and in by Hendrix (assist Pnini) to make it 46 – 36. Excellent defense by Maccabi held Haifa in check until Kadir and Jackson scored to make it a three point game, 46 – 43, Maccabi with three minutes left in the half. Points by Mačvan were matched at the other end by Landesberg, but another goaltending charge against Haifa (points to Pargo) and a stop-and-pop from downtown by Jeremy boosted Maccabi’s lead to 53 – 45. Haifa was able to rack up five more points to once again pull within three, but a clutch three at the buzzer by Eidson sent the teams into the halftime break with the score 56 – 50, Maccabi.
Hendrix dominated the first three and a half minutes of the third quarter, scoring 8 of Maccabi’s 11 points (Pnini added a three-pointer from the left wing), while Landesberg and Wilkerson kept Haifa close, 67 – 61. Kadir and Jackson combined to pull the visitors within three, 69 – 66. David Blu scored on the inbounds, then delivered one of his classic catch-and-shoots for two more from the right side, making it 73 – 66. With less than two minutes left in the period, Haifa tied the score at 75 off a basket by Avi Ben-Chimol, but points by Eliyahu ensured that the quarter ended with Maccabi in the lead, though only by a slim margin, 77 – 75.
Haifa was fired up at the start of the fourth quarter, and took a 79 – 77 lead after just over a minute. Blu scored from outside the arc and returned the lead to Maccabi, and Eidson added a bucket and one (assist Pargo) to give the home team some breathing room, 83 – 79. Maccabi also fired up the defense, utilizing a full court press that resulted in an eight second violation for Haifa. Landesberg and company were not fazed, and quickly retook the lead, 86 – 84. Hendrix’s and Eidson’s points from the free throw line retied the score after points by Haifa, but the visitors took a 90 – 88 lead thanks to Jackson, who together with Landesberg made it 95 – 88 with two and a half minutes left in the game. Pargo scored from the charity stripe and Pnini (showing once again why he’s the King of Clutch) delivered from downtown (assist Eidson), cutting Haifa’s lead to 95 – 93. Some pushy-shovey between Pnini and Jackson got them both thrown out of the game and heightened the tension in Nokia Arena with a minute and a half on the clock. Pargo made a foul shot to put Maccabi within one, 95 – 94. In one of the most thrilling plays of the game, Eidson stole the ball, passed to Eliyahu, who passed it back to Chuck for the go-ahead bucket, 96 – 95 Maccabi with thirteen seconds on the clock. To make it all the sweeter, Eidson was fouled by Derrick Low on the play and added a point from the foul line to make it 97 – 95. A free throw by Blu wrapped up the game, and Maccabi Electra Tel Aviv came away with a 98 – 95 win over Maccabi Haifa.
Box Score:
Maccabi: Pargo 22 points, 12 rebounds; Eidson 15 points, 10 assists, 5 rebounds; Hendrix 15 points, 2 rebounds, 2 blocks; Pnini 15 points, 2 assists; Eliyahu 10 points, 5 assists, 2 blocks, 2 steals; Schortsanitis 8 points, 4 rebounds; Blu 8 points; Mačvan 5 points, 3 rebounds, 2 assists.
Haifa: Landesberg 20 points; Wilkerson 18 points; Jackson 14 points; Robinson and Kadir 12 points each; Rothbart 10 points; Low 5 points; Ben-Chimol 4 points.
“The defense changed in the last two minutes,” explained Maccabi head coach David Blatt. “We had one foot in the grave but we were able to come back; apparently this really is a special season. I expected it to be a tough game, but not this tough. They succeeded in surprising even me.”
“Pargo is tired, we’ve played three hard games in the last week,” explained the coach when he was asked about his leading guard, who scored 22 points and made 12 assists in 39 minutes of playing time. “Maccabi Haifa deserves praise for the great job they did on offense. They’re a talented team that doesn’t have to be where they are now [in the standings]. They need to ask themselves where they were in the rest of their games.”
“Some people have come to me claiming that I cut back Pargo’s minutes before the last game against Caja Laboral,” the coach went on. “We don’t have another game this week. Jeremy is in great shape and we really needed him. If we’d had another game in another 3 – 4 days, he wouldn’t have played for 39 minutes. If we came back from being down by 7 in less than two minutes that tells you something about our team.”
Lior Eliyahu said, “It wasn’t easy. They played really well, and we didn’t play with our usual ability. Haifa had amazing shooting percentages, and we ended up in the situation we had in the last few minutes.” When asked why the team played a relatively weak game, Eliyahu answered, “It’s obvious there was a little mental relaxation, and I’m not ashamed to say that it was legitimate. We’re not machines, we’re human beings. Two days after qualifying for the Final Four it was a little tough for us, but in any event we need to get back to normal, and quickly. We don’t take the Israeli league for granted; it’s also our preparation for the Final Four. We need to take the games very seriously.”
