Maccabi Tel Aviv first team to advance to semifinals

Alex Tyus led six Maccabi players in double figures with 18 points, with Rick Jackson scoring 17 points for Gilboa.

By ALLON SINAI
Hapoel Tel Aviv forward Justin Harper (photo credit: ADI AVISHAI)
Hapoel Tel Aviv forward Justin Harper
(photo credit: ADI AVISHAI)
Maccabi Tel Aviv can turn its full focus to the Euroleague Final Four after wrapping up its progress to the BSL semifinals on Monday night, beating Hapoel Gilboa/Galil 94-65 in Gan Ner to complete a 3-1 series win.
Elsewhere Monday, Hapoel Jerusalem and Maccabi Haifa both moved into 2-1 leads, while Hapoel Tel Aviv remained alive by defeating Hapoel Eilat and cutting its deficit to 2-1.
Game 4 in all three series will be played on Thursday.
Maccabi Tel Aviv faces CSKA Moscow in the Final Four semifinals on Friday and will enter the game with a clear mind after booking a place in the BSL semis by defeating Gilboa on the road on Monday.
Alex Tyus led six Maccabi players in double figures with 18 points, with Rick Jackson scoring 17 points for Gilboa.
Jerusalem faced a spirited Hapoel Holon effort once more on Monday, but ultimately recorded an 85-78 win at Malha Arena.
Jerusalem took an eight-point gap (47-39) into the second half and was ahead by as many as 17 points (71-54) in the third quarter.
However, Holon never gave up the chase and the hosts had to maintain their composure until the final buzzer to clinch the precious win.
Bracey Wright led five Jerusalem players in double figures with 23 points, with D.J. Kennedy scoring 18 points for Holon, which hosts Game 4.
Haifa also took a 2-1 lead with a home victory on Monday, beating Ironi Ness Ziona 88-71 at Romema Arena.
Terrence Roderick led Haifa with 23 points, while Tyler Honeycutt netted 22 points for Ness Ziona, which won Game 2 by 20 points four days earlier and hosts Game 4.
Hapoel Tel Aviv avoided a sweep and kept alive its hopes with an emphatic 98-77 victory over Hapoel Eilat at Hadar Yosef Arena. Tel Aviv was outplayed in the first two encounters of the series, but after a tight start to Game 3, exploded on court in the final five minutes of the first half, scoring 23 of the last 30 points of the second quarter to take a 15-point gap (52-37) into the break.
After scoring a combined eight points in the first two games of the series, Justin Harper was unstoppable on Monday, finishing with 33 points, 12 rebounds and four blocks, hitting 14-of-23 shots from the field.
Carlon Brown added 20 points and Josh Owens scored 17, covering for Raviv Limonad, who had just four points, being held to single digits for the first time all season. Afik Nissim had 20 points for Eilat, which hosts Game 4.


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