EuroBasket hopes still alive after win over Bosnia

Down five at the half, Israel digs deep with a strong third to put away the Bosnians.

By ALLON SINAI
lior eliyahu 88 (photo credit: )
lior eliyahu 88
(photo credit: )
A sensational performance by Lior Eliyahu gave Israel an 88-74 victory over Bosnia at the Nokia Arena on Wednesday night and kept alive the team's hopes of advancing outright to EuroBasket 2009. The Maccabi Tel Aviv forward scored 21 points, grabbed 17 rebounds and dished out six assists in Israel's penultimate Group D qualifier and, together with Yotam Halperin and Meir Taprio, led Israel to a crucial home victory. Halperin scored 22 points and had five assists, while Tapiro pitched in with 19 points, seven boards and four dimes of his own. "We had enough of all the criticism and I'm happy we finally managed to play well," Eliyahu said. "This win was very important to our confidence and now we must defeat the Czech Republic." Israel can no longer finish in first place after Great Britain recorded the first road win in the group on Wednesday, beating the Czechs 67-63. The national team, however, still has a chance of advancing to the European Championships without playing in the additional qualifying tournament, as three of the runners-up from the four qualifying groups will also progress to EuroBasket 2009. "We should have never got ourselves in this situation," said coach Tzvika Sherf, who was especially pleased on Wednesday with the fact his team out-rebounded Bosnia 51-29. "We've been through a very tough week and I think the players deserve every compliment for their play tonight." Goran Ikonic scored 17 points for the visitors, with Ivan Opacak adding 12 points. "We played well for the first 35 minutes, but I was very upset with our play in the final five minutes. Israel deserved to win," Bosnia coach Mensur Bajramovic said. Ikonic scored the first points of the night from beyond the arc and gave the visitors a lead they would maintain throughout the first half. Halperin scored Israel's first five points of the game to tie the score at 5-5, but two consecutive Nemanja Gordic three-pointers gave Bosnia a 15-8 lead midway through the first period. Four straight Tapiro points brought Israel within four points and the hosts were only trailing 21-19 after Ido Kozikaro's easy lay-in. A three by Elmedin Kikanovic at the buzzer, however, made sure the visitors still took a comfortable lead into the second period (24-19) and rattled Israel's confidence once more. Kikanovic's basket to start the second quarter extended Bosnia's margin to seven points, but Israel had no intention of suffering yet another humiliation in EuroBasket 2009 qualification and was soon within shooting distance of the visitors. Eliyahu's field goal cut the gap to three points (28-25) and another dunk by the Maccabi forward soon after made the score 35-34. Nihad Dedovic's three in the final minute of the first half opened a 43-36 advantage and threatened to derail Sherf's men. Eliyahu's basket to end the half, however, minimized the damage and Israel was fortunate to only find itself five points down (45-40) at the break. In the third period the hosts finally managed to play well on offense and defense on consecutive possessions and it wouldn't take long before the side took its first lead of the game. Halperin's two-pointer cut the deficit to just one point (51-50) and Eliyahu's spectacular dunk midway through the period gave Israel a 52-51 lead, its first of the night. Bosnia regained the lead briefly soon after, but the national team wasn't going to allow all its hard work to go to waste and it didn't take long for the side to clinch the win. Tapiro's basket at the buzzer opened a 65-59 lead and a steal and lay-up by the veteran guard at the start of the fourth quarter gave the team its first double-digit margin of the encounter (71-61). From that stage onwards Bosnia was fighting a losing battle and the hosts ended the game with a 14 point margin of victory, their biggest lead of the night.