Mac TA routs Holon; Eilat moves into second

Maccabi Tel Aviv rebounded from Friday’s Euroleague defeat with a comfortable BSL victory at Hapoel Holon.

By ALLON SINAI
Hapoel Eilat's Eli Holman 370 (photo credit: Uzi Gal)
Hapoel Eilat's Eli Holman 370
(photo credit: Uzi Gal)
Maccabi Tel Aviv rebounded from Friday’s Euroleague defeat with a comfortable BSL victory at Hapoel Holon on Sunday, while Hapoel Jerusalem saw its three-game winning streak come to an abrupt ending at Malha Arena at the hands of Ironi Ashkelon.
Maccabi fell to second place in Euroleague Group B after losing 89-87 at Montepaschi Siena for its second straight continental defeat, but opened a doubledigit lead in the second period in Holon and never looked back, claiming a 100-72 win.
David Logan led five Maccabi players in double figures with 15 points.
Frank Hassell had 26 points and 17 boards for Holon, which trailed by 12 points at halftime (47-35) and by 20 (71-51) with 10 minutes to play.
Ashkelon had asked for Sunday’s game at Malha to be postponed due to last week’s rocket fire from Gaza, but it was surely delighted that its pleas were rejected after beating Jerusalem 91-85 for its first win of the season.
Jerusalem held the lead for most of the first half, but Marcus Moore’s points to end the second quarter gave the visitors a onepoint edge (44-43) at the break.
A tight second half came down to the final two minutes, with Marcus Dove’s three-point play with 1:52 remaining giving Ashkelon a five-point gap (88- 83) from which the error-prone Jerusalem would not return.
Moore had 22 points for Ashkelon, with Dove scoring 18.
Craig Smith led Jerusalem with 28 points.
Also Sunday, Hapoel Eilat improved to 5-2 with a 68-64 win at the feisty Hapoel Tel Aviv.
Tel Aviv controlled the first three periods, but had just a two-point gap (50-48) ahead of the final frame. Eilat made its run when it mattered most, going on a late 7-0 surge to bounce back from last week’s loss to Maccabi Tel Aviv.
Scotty Hopson had 16 points for Eilat, with Eli Holman immense under the baskets, contributing 12 points and 18 rebounds. Curtis Kelly had 22 points for Hapoel.
On Monday, Barak Netanya welcomes Hapoel Gilboa/Galil and Maccabi Rishon Lezion visits Bnei Herzliya. Maccabi Ashdod’s game against Maccabi Haifa was postponed to Wednesday due to Operation Pillar of Defense’s effect on Ashdod’s preparations.