Mac TA back on track ahead of J’lem clash

Yellow-and-blue returns to winning ways with win over Ness Ziona, closing within a game of Hapoel

By ALLON SINAI
Maccabi Tel Aviv forward Brian Randle had 14 points and eight rebounds in his return from injury last night, with the yellow-and-blue easily beating Ironi Ness Ziona at Yad Eliyahu Arena. (photo credit: DANNY MARON)
Maccabi Tel Aviv forward Brian Randle had 14 points and eight rebounds in his return from injury last night, with the yellow-and-blue easily beating Ironi Ness Ziona at Yad Eliyahu Arena.
(photo credit: DANNY MARON)
Maccabi Tel Aviv picked up some much-needed confidence ahead of next week’s showdown with Hapoel Jerusalem, easily thrashing Ironi Ness Ziona 83-59 at Yad Eliyahu Arena on Sunday night.
Maccabi will enter the encounter at the Jerusalem Arena one game back of the leader after outscoring Ness Ziona 25-6 in the first quarter and never looking back, improving to 16-7.
Maccabi is hoping to have new signing Richard Hendrix available for the game in Jerusalem after welcoming Brian Randle back from injury on Sunday.
Tel Aviv was playing for the first time since the release of Elijah Millsap and is also still without the injured Devin Smith and Trevor Mbakwe.
Sylven Landesberg led Maccabi with 19 points, with Randle finishing with 14 points and eight rebounds on his return.
Yuval Naimi had 15 points for Ness Ziona, which fell to 7-16.
Three days before it faces Skyliners Frankfurt in Game 1 of their best-of-three Europe Cup quarterfinal, Maccabi Rishon Lezion suffered a painful defeat in the BSL on Sunday night. Rishon fell to 12-11 following a 79-78 loss to Hapoel Eilat, with Darryl Monroe missing a chance to win the game for the hosts at the buzzer.
Afik Nissim had 20 points for Eilat, which improved to 11-12.
Mark Lyons scored 22 points for Rishon.
Maccabi Haifa moved up to third place in the standings on Sunday, improving to 14-9 with an 81-67 victory over Hapoel Holon at Romema Arena. Haifa bounced back from last week’s loss to Rishon, with John Dibartolomeo leading five players in double figures with 16 points.
Will Clyburn was Holon’s only player in double figures, scoring 27 points which didn’t help his team avoid dropping to 8-15.
On Monday, Ironi Nahariya (12-10) hosts Maccabi Kiryat Gat (7-15).
Women’s hoops strike ends after ten days The women’s basketball Premier League ended its strike on Sunday, reaching an agreement with the Ministry of Culture and Sport, 10 days after play was suspended in protest of a lack of funding.
The semifinal playoffs didn’t get under way as planned after the league complained that it hadn’t received the NIS 2.4 million it was promised by the ministry via Athena, Israel’s project for the promotion of women’s sports.
However, following intense negotiations over the weekend, the ministry agreed to transfer the sum in the coming days, saying that the league had agreed to its initial offer.
According to the ministry, NIS 600,000 will be transferred immediately, with a similar amount to be paid to the league before the end of the season and the entire sum to be doubled should the league meet the ministry’s demands.
The playoff semifinals will begin later this week, but teams will already be in action on Monday in the State Cup semis. Maccabi Ramat Hen faces Elitzur Holon while Maccabi Ashdod plays Bnot Herzliya.