Maccabi Elite Tel Aviv took a 1-0 lead in the Playoff Finals when they beat Ironi Nahariya 90-70. Nahariya still without the injured Adrian Pledger, made it a very close game in the first half. They ended the first quarter 25-20 up with an Oren Ben Hemo three pointer from downtown. The second quarter was a private duel between Nikola Vujcic (19 pts in the first half) & Eric Campbell (17 pts). Maccabi led 44-40 at half time.
But the tired visitors, after a gruelling semi final series with Galil Elyon, could not stand the pace and saw Maccabi increase the lead to 60-47 and 70-56 at the end of the third. Finally Maccabi won by 20 pts.
Vujcic was the MVP with 29 pts, 14 rbds & 3 assists. An excellent game also for Yoav Saffar with 21 rbds & 8 rbds. Other scorers: Udrih 12, Goree 10, Burstein 7, Lewis 4, Sheffer 3, Halperin 2, Shelef 2. Leading scorers for Nahariya: Campbell 21 pts & 8 rbds, Arthur Lee 16 pts & 7 assists & Erez Markovic 14 pts & 7 rbds. Game 2 will be played Sunday in Nahariya.
