The Israeli players’ union agreed to end its strike last week after reaching a new deal with the owners.
By ALLON SINAIBSL season gets underway 370(photo credit: Lilach Weiss/BSL)
Hapoel Eilat and Hapoel Jerusalem picked up where they left off as the BSL returned to action after three and- a-half weeks on Wednesday night.The Israeli players’ union agreed to end its strike last week after reaching a new deal with the owners. However, the long lay-off did nothing to slow down Eilat, which defeated Jerusalem 84-79 on Wednesday for its fourth win in its past five games, handing Jerusalem its fourth straight loss.Under the new agreement, every team will be allowed to register a maximum of five foreigners starting from next season, but will be required to play with two Israelis at all times.However, teams that will decide to sign no more than four foreign players will receive a NIS 250,000 bonus, with another NIS one million to be split between the league’s 12 sides based on the number of minutes played by their Israelis.Only 21 of Eilat’s 84 points on Wednesday were scored by its Israeli players, with Oded Katash’s Americans carrying the team once more.Larry O’Bannon had 24 points for Eilat, with Jerome Tillman scoring 15 and Eli Holman adding 14 points.Josh Duncan had 20 points and nine rebounds for Jerusalem, which dropped back to .500 (11-11).Hapoel Tel Aviv registered its third win in four contests to take another step towards maintaining its BSL status on Wednesday, edging Maccabi Ashdod 92-88.Also Wednesday, Hapoel Holon (9-13) beat Barak Netanya (11-11) 67-58.On Thursday, Maccabi Haifa hosts Maccabi Rishon Lezion and Hapoel Gilboa/Galil faces Ironi Ashkelon.Maccabi Tel Aviv will play Bnei Herzliya on Sunday afternoon.
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