Gilboa/Galil staring at relegation after humbling loss to Ashdod

Team to finish season in last place will be demoted to the National League.

APRIL 19, 2015 07:26

Maccabi Ashdod forward James Nunnally had a team-high 21 points in Saturday night win over Hapoel Gilboa/Galil in BSL action (photo credit: LIRON MOLDOVAN/BSL) — Maccabi Ashdod forward James Nunnally had a team-high 21 points in Saturday night win over Hapoel Gilboa/Galil in BSL action

(photo credit: LIRON MOLDOVAN/BSL)

Maccabi Ashdod took a massive step towards securing its BSL status for another season while handing Hapoel Gilboa/ Galil’s hopes a significant blow on Saturday night after claiming a 99-76 win in the showdown between the league’s two bottom sides.

Ashdod opened a double-digit lead in the first period and never looked back, improving to 9-19 to open a two-game lead over rock-bottom Gilboa.

James Nunnally led five Ashdod players in double figures with 21 points, while Alex Young had 14 points for Gilboa, which only has five more regular season games to try and avoid relegation.

The team which will finish the season in last place will be demoted to the National League.

BSL action continues on Sunday when Hapoel Holon (14-13) hosts Hapoel Tel Aviv (14-13) as the race for a place in the playoffs continues.

Only 3.5 games separate Maccabi Rishon Lezion (15-13) in third place and Ironi Nahariya (11-16) in 10th, with no team having more than six games left in the regular season. The top eight will advance to the playoffs, with the top four to have home-court advantage in the quarterfinals.

Maccabi Tel Aviv (23-4), which won’t be in BSL action this week due to its participation in the Euroleague quarterfinals, and Hapoel Jerusalem (21-7) already know they will enter the playoffs as the No. 1 and No. 2 seeds, likely in that order.

However, the battle for the six remaining berths and for home-court advantage in the quarters looks set to go down to the wire.

On Monday, Hapoel Eilat (13- 14) welcomes Maccabi Haifa (12-15), while Bnei Herzliya (12- 15) visits Nahariya (11-16).