Maccabi\u2019s starting five was made up of Carlos Arroyo, Marcus Brown, Omri Casspi, D\u2019or Fischer and Raviv Limonad. Both teams were off the mark early in the game, such that after three minutes of missed shots and turnovers the score stood at a lowly 3 \u2013 2, in favor of Bnei Hasharon. <\/SPAN> Brown stayed hot at the start of the second quarter, scoring his second three-pointer and leading Maccabi on a 10 \u2013 2 scoring run that brought the score to 25 \u2013 16. Maccabi got off to a slow start in the opening minutes of the third period, especially on rebounds which fell mostly into the hands of the visitors. <\/SPAN> Maccabi stayed in deep-freeze early in the fourth quarter, scoring only one basket in the first four minutes. Box Scores Maccabi<\/SPAN><\/B>: Arroyo 17 points; M. Brown 15 points; Eliyahu 14 points; McGhee 8 points; Limonad 6 points, 7 assists; Casspi 6 points; D. Brown 5 points; Fischer 4 points, 6 rebounds; Sharp 2 points. Bnei Hasharon<\/SPAN><\/B>: Roby 13 points; Belcher 12 points, 7 assists; Newble 11 points; Munson and Tapiro, 6 points each; James 6 points, 11 rebounds; Katz 5 points; Cisse and Itzhaki 3 points each. \u201cAt the pace of this game, a 12 point difference is like a 24 point difference in a regular game,\u201d said Maccabi head coach Pini Gershon<\/B>. \u201cI\u2019ve got a problem with the Russian Rule; to me, it\u2019s not basketball,\u201d added Gershon. \u201cI\u2019m not worried about anything. Arriel Beit-Halamy<\/SPAN><\/B>, head coach for Bnei Hasharon, said, \u201cAll in all, we had a bad game.
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<\/SPAN>Meir Tapiro, Segado Belcher, Ousmane Cisse, Elad Hoffman and Ira Newble opened for the visitors.
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<\/SPAN>While Maccabi struggled to find the basket, the visitors slowly warmed up, bringing their lead to 9 \u2013 6 with three and a half minutes left in the first quarter.
<\/SPAN>Maccabi finally found their rhythm, and Marcus Brown heated up enough to give Maccabi a slim 15 \u2013 14 lead at the end of the period.<\/SPAN><\/P>
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<\/SPAN>A time-out called by the visitors didn\u2019t help them, and Maccabi\u2019s lead continued to climb thanks to a shot from downtown by Dee Brown and buckets by Limonad and Eliyahu.
<\/SPAN>With three and a half minutes remaining in the half, Maccabi\u2019s lead had grown to 38 \u2013 24.
<\/SPAN>A technical called on Bnei Hasharon\u2019s chairman, Eldad Akunis, didn\u2019t do his team any favors, while with smart use of the bench Maccabi cruised to a 44 \u2013 31 lead at the half.
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<\/SPAN>Bnei Hasharon took advantage, with a basket by Belcher closing the gap to 44 \u2013 35 two minutes into the quarter.
<\/SPAN>Maccabi came back to life, with points by Eliyahu and a three-pointer by Arroyo widening Maccabi\u2019s lead to 53 \u2013 37 with four and a half minutes left in the period.
<\/SPAN>Maccabi looked to be on the way to busting the game wide open, but a string of turnovers on offense gave the visitors the opportunity to narrow the deficit.
<\/SPAN>Maccabi head coach Pini Gershon put the starters back on the court, but still saw his comfortable lead start to slip away.
<\/SPAN>The period ended with Maccabi\u2019s lead down to eleven; 57 \u2013 46.<\/SPAN><\/P>
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<\/SPAN>The visitors capitalized, chipping away at the hosts\u2019 advantage until it was down to a single digit difference: 59 \u2013 52.
<\/SPAN>Frustration was visible on the Maccabi bench at the visitors\u2019 return to the game, but points by McGhee and M. Brown gave the home team some breathing space, 65 \u2013 56 with three minutes left in the game.
<\/SPAN>It began once again to look like Bnei Hasharon had no chance of leaving the arena with a victory.
<\/SPAN>Maccabi protected the lead with careful ball handling, but a series of confrontations between Arroyo and Itzhaki ended with two fouls called on each, though without the two coming to blows.
<\/SPAN>The game ended with another win for Maccabi Electra Tel Aviv, 77 \u2013 65 over Bnei Hasharon.
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<\/SPAN>\u201cWe have to know how to win games like these, because teams that come up against us as the underdog will implement strategies like that.
<\/SPAN>Based on their percentages for scoring and turnovers, we should have beaten them by a wider margin.
<\/SPAN>Too bad that didn\u2019t happen.
<\/SPAN>I decided I was going to close down Tapiro tonight, and that\u2019s just what happened.\u201d
<\/SPAN>When asked about Dror Hagag and Tre Simmons, who were not in uniform, the coach replied, \u201cEveryone practices hard and wants to play.\u201d
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<\/SPAN>\u201cIt\u2019s just not possible to play that way.
<\/SPAN>I think it\u2019s awkward, and I\u2019m sure a lot of other coaches think so, too.
<\/SPAN>I don\u2019t understand that whole story, which also costs teams a lot more money.
<\/SPAN>In
<\/SPAN>If there were enough good Israeli players, that\u2019s okay.
<\/SPAN>But there aren\u2019t enough Israeli players for 10 teams, and certainly not for 12.\u201d
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<\/SPAN>Casspi has the ability to score even 20 points per game.
<\/SPAN>I think that the Israelis we\u2019ve got on Maccabi are good enough.\u201d
<\/SPAN>When asked about uber-rivals Hapoel Jerusalem, Gershon added, \u201cIf you want, go ahead rank
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<\/SPAN>Our percentages were bad.
<\/SPAN>We played well on defense and took rebounds, but that\u2019s not worth much without strong offense.
<\/SPAN>One of the problems we need to deal with leading up to the playoffs is that we\u2019re turning the ball over a lot.
<\/SPAN>This week we\u2019ll have a full roster, we\u2019ll practice hard and I hope you\u2019ll see the results in the coming weeks.
<\/SPAN>There\u2019s no reason we shouldn\u2019t be in the Final Four.
<\/SPAN>We need to come together in the coming weeks; then everything will be okay.\u201d