Jerusalem coasts in Ashkelon; Ashdod edges Netanya in OT

There was some good news for Haifa on Sunday, securing Elishay Kadir’s services for the rest of the season earlier in the day.

By ALLON SINAI
Hapoel Jerusalem cruised to its first road win of the season on Sunday night, beating Ironi Ashkelon 75-68.
Oded Katash’s team had no trouble improving to 3-2 in the BSL and the coach took the opportunity to rest his starters ahead of Hapoel’s Eurocup regular season opener against VEF Riga at Malha Arena on Tuesday.
Also Sunday, Maccabi Ashdod beat Barak Netanya 87-84 in overtime and Bnei Hasharon defeated Maccabi Haifa 93-89.
There was however some good news for Haifa on Sunday, with the Greens securing Elishay Kadir’s services for the rest of the season earlier in the day.
The 23-year-old forward signed a three-year contract at Maccabi Tel Aviv in the summer after being chosen as the BSL’s MVP last season for his contribution to Hapoel Gilboa/Galil championship campaign.
However, after Maccabi brought in Lior Eliyahu, it quickly became apparent that Kadir would get very few playing opportunities.
Kadir played just 10 minutes overall in Tel Aviv’s first eight league games in the BSL and Euroleague, leaving Maccabi with no real option but to send him out on loan.
The forward had hoped to return to Gilboa, but Haifa was the highest bidder and improved its roster significantly with Kadir’s addition.
Hapoel Jerusalem 75, Ironi Ashkelon 68 Jason Rich scored the first points of the night from beyond the arc and Jerusalem would never relinquish the lead.
A Will Solomon three-pointer increased the visitors’ gap to 16-8 and another triple by the American guard opened a 26- 14 margin after 10 minutes.
Hapoel remained in complete control in the second period, maintaining a doubledigit margin for most of the quarter before taking a 41-31 advantage into the break.
The visitors were never troubled in the second half either, sailing to a confidence-boosting win ahead of their Eurocup opener.
Rich led Jerusalem with 22 points, with Brian Randle scoring 16 and Solomon adding 15.
Rashon Turner was Ashkelon’s only player in double- figures with 14 points.
Bnei Hasharon 93, Maccabi Haifa 89 Bnei Hasharon led for the entire first half, with Ron Steele’s basket giving the hosts a 48-41 gap at halftime.
Dan Shamir’s men dominated the third period as well, and held a comfortable 75-62 advantage at the start of the final frame.
However, Haifa came roaring back in the fourth quarter, closing at one stage to within two points (82-80).
Bnei Hasharon would nevertheless hold off Haifa’s challenge, claiming its fourth win in five games.
Steele, Dan Grunfeld and Shawn James each scored 17 points for the winners, with Marco Killingsworth leading Haifa with 17 points and 10 rebounds.
Maccabi Ashdod 87, Barak Netanya 84 (OT) A close first half ended with the hosts leading 43-41, and Ashdod remained in front in the third quarter, taking an eight-point (63-55) margin into the final 10 minutes.
However, Netanya erased the deficit in the fourth quarter and the game would go into overtime after Adrian Banks hit one of two free-throws for the visitors to tie the score at 76-76.
Ashdod had the edge for most of the extra period as well, but Netanya had its chances to send the game into a second overtime, only for Tony Younger and Ori Itzhaki to miss their three-point attempts in the closing seconds.
Ramel Bradley had 25 points for Ashdod, with Josh Carter adding 24 for the winners.
Banks scored 27 for Netanya, which also got 22 points and 12 rebounds from Romeo Travis.