In the BSL on Sunday, Maccabi Haifa hosts Hapoel Holon in what promises to be a scintillating affair.
By ALLON SINAITapiro 224.88(photo credit: Asaf Kliger)
Bnei Hasharon finally claimed its first victory of the season on Saturday, defeating Hapoel Jerusalem 77-73 in Ra'anana.
After suffering disappointing and unexpected defeats in its first two games in the league, coach Moshe Weinkrantz took responsibility for the team's situation and resigned as coach on Tuesday.
New coach Ariel Beit-Halahmi, who was appointed on Wednesday, didn't have much time to work with the team, but he did manage to inject urgency and enthusiasm into the previously downcast side, and that made all the difference on Saturday.
Bnei Hasharon, which got 25 points and eight rebounds from new signing Ugonna Onyekwe, led throughout the encounter and held off Hapoel's late comeback, handing Jerusalem its first league defeat of the season.
"I was anxious to get back to playing," Onyekwe said. "The team lost two games and there was obviously a lot of motivation to win tonight. Hopefully we can continue and build on this win."
Cookie Belcher added 17 points for Bnei Hasharon, with Timmy Bowers scoring 21 points for Hapoel.
"We knew this would be a tough game," Jerusalem coach Guy Goodes said. "We struggled on the back of our loss to Kazan and the more aggressive team won tonight."
In the BSL on Sunday, Maccabi Haifa hosts Hapoel Holon in what promises to be a scintillating affair.
Both teams have won their first two games of the season in exciting fashion, with the newly promoted Haifa doing so by an average margin of 22 points a game and defending champion Holon by an average 18.5 points.
Also Sunday, Ironi Ramat Gan hosts Hapoel Galil Elyon/Gilboa, Elitzur Kiryat Ata visits Elitzur Ashkelon and Maccabi Rishon Lezion travels to Maccabi Givat Shmuel.
Maccabi Tel Aviv hosts Ironi Nahariya on Monday.
In Ra'anana, Sharon Sasson scored the first points of the night from beyond the arc and the visitors opened a 9-2 lead after four straight Travis Watson points.
Bnei Hasharon wouldn't fold, as it did in the first two games of the season, however, and a 12-2 run capped by a Ousmane Cisse (12 points and 11 rebounds on the night) basket gave the hosts the lead.
Jerusalem tied the score at 17-17 by the end of the first period, but a 9-0 run to start the second quarter put Bnei Hasharon in a commanding position.
A dunk by new forward Onyekwe extended the margin to double-digits (30-20) and the hosts went into the break ahead 38-31.
At the beginning of the second half, Hapoel closed to within one possession, but the hosts were always in control and an alley-oop between Meir Tapiro and Cisse opened a 52-39 lead.
Bnei Hasharon entered the final 10 minutes of the encounter with an 11-point cushion (59-48) and looked comfortable for most of the fourth quarter.
Hapoel did, however, test the hosts one last time in the last two minutes and, thanks to two Bowers threes, cut the gap to a mere two points (75-73) with just 40 seconds remaining.
The visitors would come no closer, though, with Tapiro hitting a jumper at one side and stealing the ball at the other to clinch the victory.
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