Mac TA falls to Herzliya, Holon also loses

Yellow-and-blue remains in first place on account of head-to-head • Another pair of tight encounters.

By ALLON SINAI
Bnei Herzliya forward Jeff Adrien dunks two of his 27 points during last night’s 94-88 home triumph over Maccabi Tel Aviv in BSL action. (photo credit: ADI AVISHAI)
Bnei Herzliya forward Jeff Adrien dunks two of his 27 points during last night’s 94-88 home triumph over Maccabi Tel Aviv in BSL action.
(photo credit: ADI AVISHAI)
Maccabi Tel Aviv suffered its fourth straight defeat over all competitions on Sunday night, its longest losing streak of a disastrous season, after falling 94-88 at Bnei Herzliya.
Maccabi has lost two games in a row in both the BSL and the Euroleague, but remains in first place in the local league standings, sitting ahead of Hapoel Holon on a tiebreaker after the latter dropped to a dramatic 102- 100 overtime setback against Hapoel Tel Aviv.
Maccabi fell to a 17-8 record, with Herzliya pulling ahead with an 11-0 run at the start of the second half and completing a regular season sweep of the yellow- and-blue.
Jeff Adrien scored 27 points for Herzliya, which improved to 15-10 despite playing without star Israeli forward Karam Mashour. Taurean Green added 20 points, with Halil Kanacevic netting 17 points.
“Every man stepped up today and this was a team effort,” said Adrien.
“It is a big win for because we got it even though we have many injuries. Hopefully we can use this as a stepping stone.”
Victor Rudd scored 23 points for Maccabi.
Herzliya led 38-33 at the break and hit the ground running at the start of the second half, with a thunderous Kanacevic on Devin Smith opening a 16-point cushion (49-33). Maccabi fought back in the final quarter, but couldn’t complete a comeback, suffering another dejecting defeat.
Maccabi is nevertheless still in first place thanks to its 2-1 headto- head record against Holon after the latter dropped to a surprise home defeat.
In Holon, the hosts led by as many as 13 points (38-25) in the second period, but Hapoel made a run to end the first half, with Tamir Blatt’s three-pointer cutting the deficit to five points (44-39).
A tight second half would ensue, with Holon’s Shlomi Harush forcing overtime with his basket at the buzzer after Lyons missed one of two free throws.
There was also little to separate the teams throughout the extra period, but Lyons more than made up for his earlier miss with a tough shot as time expired to give Tel Aviv a big win.
Richard Howell had 21 points for the winners, with Raviv Limonad adding 20, Adrian Banks scoring 18 and Lyons finishing with 17.
James Bell had 21 points and 12 rebounds for Holon.
Tel Aviv improved to 13-12 with the win, giving it a 1½ game lead over Maccabi Rishon Lezion in ninth place in the battle for a top-eight finish and a place in the playoffs.
Ironi Nahariya climbed up to eighth on Sunday, moving to 12-13 with a nail-biting 84-83 win over rock-bottom Maccabi Kiryat Gat. Nahariya needed Yancy Gates free throws with two seconds to play to eke out a victory against Kiryat Gat, which fell to 4-21. Gates finished with 15 points, while Justin Carter scored 24 fror Kiryat Gat.
On Monday, Hapoel Jerusalem aims to return to winning ways when it hosts Hapoel Gilboa/ Galil, with Hapoel Eilat welcoming Maccabi Ashdod and Rishon Lezion visiting Maccabi Haifa.