Hapoel Tel Aviv still in trouble after surprise home loss to Ness Ziona

Hapoel fell to 4-8 and the decision to sack coach Oded Katash is looking worse with every day.

By ALLON SINAI
Ironi Ness Ziona forward Fuquan Edwin scored 33 points in last night’s 94-88 win over Hapoel Tel Aviv at the Drive-In Arena (photo credit: DANNY MARON)
Ironi Ness Ziona forward Fuquan Edwin scored 33 points in last night’s 94-88 win over Hapoel Tel Aviv at the Drive-In Arena
(photo credit: DANNY MARON)
Hapoel Tel Aviv continues to flounder after dropping to its fourth defeat in the past five games on Monday night, suffering a surprise 94-88 loss to lowly Ironi Ness Ziona.
Hapoel fell to 4-8 and the decision to sack coach Oded Katash is looking worse with every day. Tel Aviv controlled the game until the final three minutes, with Ness Ziona scoring 36 points in the fourth quarter alone. Ness Ziona improved to 4-8, grabbing its second win in four games under new coach Ofer Berkowitz, who claimed his 100th career victory.
Fuquan Edwin led Ness Ziona with 33 points, converting 9-of-9 attempts from twopoint range and 3-of-6 shots from beyond the arc. Diamon Simpson finished with 21 points and 12 rebounds, while Yuval Naimi had 16 points and 10 assists.
Raviv Limonad led five Hapoel players in double figures with 20 points.
Maccabi Tel Aviv visited Atidim High School in Or Akiva on Monday morning as part of the BSL and Mifal HaPayis “Basketball for the Community” project.
Maccabi improved to 9-3 in the BSL on Sunday with an 88-63 win at Maccabi Kiryat Gat, but that did little to sweeten the bitter taste from last week’s painful Euroleague exit.
“It is great to give back to the community,” said forward Sylven Landesberg. “We are finished with the Euroleague and that is a shame, but we still have many other targets.
“It is important to continue to play well in the league and regain the championship, win the State Cup and go as far as we can in the Eurocup. I feel that if we can reach the Eurocup final, and certainly if we can win it, that will save our European season.
We need to make the most of our remaining targets.”
Maccabi will next be in action on Wednesday when it visits Hapoel Gilboa/Galil of the National League in the State Cup round of 16.