By Amy Samin

Maccabi Electra Tel Aviv secured the top spot in the Lotto League when they defeated Eshet Tours Bnei Hasharon 90 – 88 in overtime, following a clutch three-pointer by Eidson.
Doron Perkins, who was chosen game MVP by fans of Maccabi’s Facebook page, was outstanding with 16 points and 6 assists.
Guy Pnini added 14 points and 7 rebounds.
Maccabi’s president, Shimon Mizrahi, received a bouquet of flowers from the management of Bnei Hasharon in honor of his being awarded the Israel Prize in the field of Sport.

Pnini, Perkins, Lior Eliyahu, Chuck Eidson, and Sofoklis Schortsanitis started the game for Maccabi, while hosts Bnei Hasharon led off with Ron Steele, Shawn James, Ben Rice, Dan Grunfeld, and Lee Nailon.
Neither team succeeded in finding the basket in the first two minutes of the game, while Sofo quickly racked up two fouls.
Nailon scored from the charity stripe to activate the scoreboard, and Pnini responded with a layup to tie the score at 2, two and a half minutes into the first period.
Despite Maccabi’s full court press and tough defense, Grunfeld was able to take his team to a 6 – 2 lead.
Eidson scored from downtown to put Maccabi within one, and two free throws from Perk put Maccabi in the lead, 7 – 6 at the halfway point.
Richard Hendrix scored off an oop from Jeremy Pargo, and dropped in the and-one to make it 10 – 6, Maccabi.
Excellent defense (which included traps and a steal by Hendrix) kept the home team stuck at 8 while Maccabi went on a 9 – 0 scoring run featuring three-pointers by Perk and Pargo and a fade-away by Perkins that made it 19 – 8 with three minutes left in the quarter.
Points by Bryant Dunstan put Bnei Hasharon back in the game, but were answered by a catch-and-shoot from David Blu, 21 – 12, Maccabi. Steele’s layup and one brought Bnei Hasharon within three at the end of the period, 21 – 18.

Maccabi got off to a strong start in the second quarter with a 6 – 0 run that featured two layups by co-captain Tal Burstein (both assists by Eliyahu).
Sharon Shason scored for the hosts to stop the run, but he was quickly answered by Perk with a bank shot from the top of the arc, making it 30 – 21 after two and a half minutes.
Burstein scored again off a stop-and-pop from downtown, and points from Blu on the left wing took the score to 37 – 30 with three and a half minutes left in the half.
Perkins and Pnini (who was 100% from the line) scored from the charity stripe, and Milan Mačvan’s two points (assist Pnini) at the end of the quarter made it 42 – 36 going into halftime.

James started off the third quarter to bring Bnei Hasharon within four, but points by Eliyahu and Pargo, followed by Pnini with a three from the corner (assist Hendrix) gave Maccabi some breathing room, 49 – 40.
The home team didn’t give up, with Steele picking Pargo’s pocket and fouls by Pargo leading to points from the foul line, bringing the score to 49 – 45.
Sofo, who came back into the game with an injured ankle, went on a rampage, scoring seven points in two minutes and putting Maccabi’s lead back in double digits, 58 – 48.
Eidson scored from outside the arc (assist Perk) and the period ended with the score 63 – 55.

Eliyahu, Blu, and Eidson crafted a 7 – 0 scoring run for Maccabi at the start of the fourth quarter to give the visitors a fifteen point lead, 70 – 55, but Grunfeld and company weren’t prepared to call it quits.
By the halfway mark they had narrowed the gap to eight, 72 – 64.
Pnini and Eliyahu scored, but were answered by James and Steele, whose shot from the left wing made it 76 – 71 with less than two and a half minutes left on the clock.
Steele scored again, from downtown this time, to tie the score at 76 with less than a minute remaining.
Pnini’s classic clutch three from the corner gave Maccabi the lead, but Steele’s three points from the foul line re-tied the score at 79 and gave his team another five minutes to try and secure the win, as the game went into overtime.

Throughout the extra period the lead changed hands as Maccabi scored and Bnei Hasharon replied.
A nasty elbow to the neck by Nailon sent Pnini to the free throw line, where he gave Maccabi a two point advantage, 84 – 82.
Steele answered in kind to retie the score, then James scored to put the hosts up by two.
The final minute of the overtime saw points by Eliyahu (who tied the score at 86) and Steele (who put Bnei Hasharon up 88 – 86).
It began to look like a second overtime was on the horizon, when a three by Eidson from the right corner with 23 seconds on the clock made it 89 – 88.
A free throw and a miss by Blu gave Maccabi a two point lead and ate up the remaining 2 seconds of the clock, preventing the home team from scoring again.
In the end, Maccabi Electra Tel Aviv defeated Eshet Tours Bnei Hasharon 90 – 88, in one of the most exciting games of the season.

Box Score:

Maccabi: Perkins 16 points, 6 assists, 4 steals; Pnini 14 points, 7 rebounds; Eliyahu 12 points, 7 rebounds; Eidson and Blu 11 points each; Schortsanitis 8 points; Burstein 7 points; Pargo 5 points; Hendrix 4 points; Mačvan 2 points.

Bnei Hasharon: James 17 points, 17 rebounds; Steele 15 points, 5 assists, 2 steals; Dunstan 14 points; Grunfeld 11 points; Nailon 10 points; Rivera 8 points; Katz 6 points; Shason 3 points; Rice and Assaf 2 points each.

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