Maccabi Haifa back to winning ways in BSL
02/19/2013 00:38
Maccabi Haifa got its BSL campaign back on track, beating Barak Netanya 79-68 on the road.
Maccabi Haifa's Ido Kozikaro. Photo: Asaf Kliger
Maccabi Haifa got its BSL campaign back on track on Monday night, beating Barak
Netanya 79-68 on the road.
Haifa impressed on its way to the State Cup
final two weeks ago before being edged by Maccabi Tel Aviv, but it failed to
translate its form to league play, losing to Hapoel Tel Aviv last
week.
However, the Greens finally returned to winning ways in Netanya on
Monday, clinching the victory after outscoring the hosts 24-12 in the fourth
quarter.
Netanya led 57-56 after three periods, but Haifa dominated the
final 10 minutes and improved to 10-7, equal to the second-best record in the
league also held by Hapoel Jerusalem and Hapoel Eilat.
Donta Smith had 20
points for Haifa, with James Thomas adding 12 points and 14 rebounds. Deron
Washington had 16 points for Netanya, which dropped to 9-8 with its first defeat
in three games.
Hapoel Gilboa/Galil recorded an important win in the
battle against relegation on Monday, beating fellow-struggler Hapoel Tel Aviv
82-67.
Gilboa outscored the visitors 25-19 in the first quarter, but it
was Tel Aviv which held a 39-35 lead at the break.
However, Tel Aviv
would score just 14 points in each of the next two periods and Gilboa snapped a
two-game losing skid to improve to 6-11.
Rakim Sanders had 25 points for
Gilboa, with new signing Brian Randle and Curtis Kelly scoring 14 points each
for Tel Aviv (7- 10), which had to host the game at Malha Arena in Jerusalem due
to its fans’ unruliness.