Lior Lipshits led Hapoel Galil Elyon-Golan to shocking 107-92 win over Maccabi Tel Aviv in arguably the most exciting evening of BSL action this season.
By JERUSALEM POST STAFFgalil elyon golan 88(photo credit: )
A career night from young point guard Lior Lipshits led Hapoel Galil Elyon-Golan to a shocking 107-92 win over Maccabi Tel Aviv at Kfar Blum on Sunday in arguably the most exciting evening of BSL action this season.
While Oded Katash's youngsters were stinging Maccabi, Ramat Hasharon edged Elitzur Ashkelon on a David Logan three-pointer as time expired, Ironi Ramat Gan needed overtime to get past Maccabi Rishon and Ironi Nahariya outlasted Hapoel Tel Aviv in a triple-overtime epic at Ein Sarah.
Matchday 22 will conclude on Monday when Hapoel Jerusalem hosts last-place Maccabi Givat Shmuel. The second round of play will finish on Thursday, when Jerusalem travels to face Maccabi Tel Aviv at Nokia Arena in a game that was postponed from earlier in the season.
Fresh off a Euroleague win over Olympiacos that sent the yellow-and blue to the Final Four, Maccabi looked flat. Coach Pini Gershon's side, which also lost last week at Bnei Hasharon, trailed by double figures in the first period, before regaining control in the third. But Galil's younger, hungrier side never quit and wrested the game from Maccabi in the end.
The result marks the first time since 1999 that Maccabi has lost back-to-back BSL games.
Galil improved to 10-10-0 and is now only two games behind Rishon and Nahariya for a spot in the BSL Final Four semifinals.
Lipshits, who finished with 23 points and seven assists, keyed an early 10-0 run that put the hosts up 31-20. Galil would increase its advantage to 47-30 midway through the second period before Maccabi closed the gap to 53-44 at halftime.
A Derrick Sharp three gave Maccabi a 62-59 lead in the third, but it would be short lived as Lipshits and co. continued to battle. Lipshits gave Galil the lead for good with a three of his own and Katash's charges held Maccabi off down the stretch.
Uche Nsonwu had 19 points and eight rebounds, Sasa Bratic, Uriel Marko and Yordon Bozov added 13 apiece and Lior Eliyahu 12 for Galil.
Jamie Arnold scored a season-high 28 for Maccabi, while Nikola Vujcic added 15 points, six rebounds and seven assists and Will Solomon and Sharp scored 14 each.
Ironi Nahariya 120, Hapoel Tel Aviv 111 (3OT)
Nahariya finally pulled away in the third overtime period to put visiting Hapoel away. The win, coupled with Rishon's defeat to Ramat Gan, saw Nahariya catch Rishon with a 12-8 record, though Guy Goodes's team will remain in third due to a better head-to-head mark.
Hapoel, which fell to 9-11, led 84-80 in the final minute of regulation, but a pair of Amit Ben-David layups and the help of two missed free throws by Erez Katz allowed Nahariya to tie the score. Tel Aviv had the ball and a shot to win, but a Marcus Hatten three bounced out.
Hatten, who finished with a career-high 45 points in 51 minutes, forced the second overtime when he corrected his own miss with 1.7 seconds left in the first extra period to tie the game at 94.
The second OT was bit slower, before Nahariya took over in the third.
Jayson Wells scored 31 points and grabbed 17 rebounds for Nahariya, while Barak Peleg added 23, Otis Hill 20 and Alvin Young 18. Avi Sukar was worth 10 points and six assists.
Herve Lamizana scored 24 and grabbed 11 rebounds for Hapoel, while JeRon Roberts added 17.
Ironi Ramat Gan 101, Maccabi Rishon 98 (OT)
Rod Nealy made a pair of free throws with 1.5 seconds remaining in relegation to force overtime and Jason Gardner made eight free throws down the stretch to seal the win, which keeps Ramat Gan one game ahead of Ramat Hasharon in the race to avoid relegation.
Gardner, who finished with 26 points, went 17-for-21 from the line and drew 11 fouls. Nealy added 24, Tunji Awojobi 18 and Avi Ben-Chimol 17.
John Gilchrist scored 23 and Or Eitan 20 in defeat.
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