Plenty of excitement all around local gyms

Hap TA sneaks past Ashdod; Hap J’lem back to winning ways; Mac TA edges Rishon.

By ALLON SINAI
MACCABI TEL AVIV guard David Logan (photo credit: Adi Avishai)
MACCABI TEL AVIV guard David Logan
(photo credit: Adi Avishai)
Bar Timor’s basket with three seconds to play gave Hapoel Tel Aviv a 77-75 victory at Maccabi Ashdod on Sunday night to boost its BSL playoff hopes, while Hapoel Jerusalem snapped a four-game losing streak with a 78-58 thrashing of Maccabi Haifa.
Hapoel Tel Aviv trailed 43-31 at halftime and was still down by 12 points (69-57) midway through the final quarter. However, the Reds fought back to tie the score and an Ashdod turnover allowed Timor to clinch the win in the dying seconds.
Timor ended the night with a career-high 21 points, with Curtis Kelly scoring 18 and Anthony Goods adding 17 points.
Austin Freeman had 18 points for Ashdod, which dropped to 10-14 and is 2.5 games out of a playoff berth with three contests to play.
Jerusalem kept alive its chances of having home-court advantage in the playoff quarterfinals with an impressive win at Haifa.
Sharon Drucker’s men hadn’t won a game in almost two months following their losing streak and the Israeli players’ strike, but dominated Haifa on Sunday to improve to 12-11, tied with Barak Netanya for fourth place.
Josh Duncan had 18 points and 10 rebounds for Jerusalem, with Elishay Kadir contributing 15 points and 11 boards.
Paul Stoll scored 17 points for Haifa, which dropped to 15-9 with its second straight loss and visits Maccabi Tel Aviv on Thursday.
Maccabi Tel Aviv improved to 20-3 with a tighter than expected 77-71 win at Maccabi Rishon Lezion on Sunday.
Tel Aviv led by as many as 25 points (53-28) midway through the third frame, but defensive lapses allowed Rishon back into the encounter before the yellowand- blue eked out the win.
David Logan scored 24 points for Maccabi, with Devin Smith and Lior Eliyahu adding 16 and 15 points, respectively.
Julian Wright had 22 points and 12 rebounds for Rishon (12-12).
Ironi Ashkelon’s stay in the top flight is over after it suffered its 13th consecutive loss on Sunday, falling 83-77 at the hands of Hapoel Holon.
Jerome Dyson had 24 points for Holon (10-14), with Frank Hassell contributing 18 points and 17 rebounds.
Marque Perry scored 23 points for Ashkelon.
The game between Hapoel Eilat and Barak Netanya was postponed to Monday as the latter was unable to fly down to Eilat due to the strike by the Israeli airlines.
Hapoel Gilboa/Galil won the Balkan League for a second straight season on Sunday, beating Levski Sofia 87-79 in double overtime in Bulgaria.
Rakim Sanders led Gilboa with 30 points and 17 rebounds.