Solomon punishes Ramat Hasharon

Hapoel Tel Aviv produced a quality team effort to earn a precious 89-81 win at Givat Shmuel.

By SHARON SOLOMON
Will Solomon is starting to find his place in the Maccabi Tel Aviv game plan. The talented guard showed glimpses of his Hapoel Jerusalem days and led the reigning BSL champions to a 110-88 win over Ramat Hasharon at the Nokia Arena on Sunday night. Hapoel Tel Aviv produced a quality team effort to earn a precious 89-81 win at Givat Shmuel, while Maccabi Rishon Lezion humiliated Hapoel Ashkelon 99-76. The last game of Matchday 7 will be played Monday night when Ironi Nahariya visits Hapoel Galil-Elyon Golan. Maccabi Tel Aviv 110, Ramat Hasharon 88. Coming off an impressive Euroleague performance in its win over Barcelona on Thursday, Pini Gershon's Maccabi Tel Aviv had to work hard against Mickey Berkovic's Ramat Hasharon. Maccabi took a promising 31-21 lead at the end of the first quarter, but Terrence Shannon was unstoppable and kept the visitors in the game. The physical forward shot three three-pointers on way to his 27 points. Tel Aviv's lead was cut to six points at halftime (45-51) and to three points at the end of the third quarter (74-77), thanks to a great defensive team effort from the visitors. But Ramat Hasharon had nothing to offer in the last quarter, with Will Solomon showing flashes of genius. Solomon was Maccabi's key weapon in the second half and finished with 26 points and six assists, including four three-pointers. Jamie Arnold had 24 points and 10 rebounds. Tal Burstein added 22 points. Anthony Parker and Nikola Vujcic were rested and didn't play. Hapoel Tel Aviv 89, Givat Shmuel 81. The hosts had no answer for Rodger Farrington, who played his best game so far in his Israeli career. Farrington scored 24 points, including three successful attempts from beyond the arc. Gicat Shmuel could not contain the visitors' attacks and was outplayed in all departments, despite Tim Bower's 22 points. Forward Mushon Ya'akusi dominated the boards for Tel Aviv when he collected nine rebounds, including five on the offensive end and also added seven points. Marcus Hatten was also solid for Hapoel and finished with 25 points, five rebounds and four assists. Bnei Hasharon 79, Ironi Ramat Gan 73. The first quarter was uninspired and ended with Bnei Hasharon taking a 16-10 lead as point guard Guy Pnini ran the show. Pnini had a total of 10 points and five assists in the game. Jason Gardner excelled for the visitors in a losing effort and finished with 22 points, including three three-pointers, but got very little help from his teammates. Bnei Hasharon prevailed thanks to a big game from center Ugonna Onyekwe, who scored 22 points and collected 15 rebounds. Onyekwe was also perfect from the field and scored in all his eight attempts. Maccabi Rishon Lezion 99, Elitzur Ashkelon 76. Rishon took an early 25-9 lead, with two three-pointers from Or Eitan and another trey from Lee Matthews. Ashkelon continued turning the ball over, with Rishon punishing the hosts with some brilliant attacking moves and taking an overwhelming 56-31 lead at halftime. The second half was more of the same and the hosts found themselves in a 37-point deficit at the end of the third quarter. Maccabi Rishon swingman John Gilchrist virtually scored at will and dominated the game. The former University of Maryland guard finished with 31 points and also added nine boards and six steals. Maccabi Tel Aviv puts on a show for Larry Bird Maccabi Tel Aviv finally played like the reigning Euroleague champion and beat Barcelona 88-78 in a tough away game Thursday night. Maccabi is now 4-3 in Group B, one game behind joint leaders Lietuvos Rytas and Efes Pilsen. Barcelona fell to 3-4. On Thursday, the yellow-and-blue visit Poland to take on Prokom Trefl Sopot (2-5). With Indiana Pacers manager Larry Bird in attendance, Tal Burstein scored 24 points on 9-for-15 shooting. Anthony Parker added 17 points and five assists for Maccabi. Nikola Vujcic and Maceo Baston scored 16 points each. Barcelona star point guard Navarro was absent due to a knee injury and the Catalonians were missing his playmaking. Mikalis Kakiozis scored 21 points for the hosts.