Netanya notches thrilling 2OT triumph over Bnei Hasharon
A very tight first period ended in a 17-17 tie and set the tone for the entire encounter.
By ALLON SINAI
Barak Netanya stayed in the hunt for home-court advantage in the BSL quarterfinal playoffs on Tuesday night, defeating Bnei Hasharon 91-90 in double-overtime.Netanya still needs other results to go its way to ensure a top-four finish, but Tuesday’s victory at least guaranteed it will enter its closing regular season game at Maccabi Tel Aviv with plenty to play for.Marco Killingsworth led Netanya with 27 points, 11 rebounds and five assists, with Danilo Pinnock adding 26 points and seven rebounds and Tony Washem contributing 20 points and 13 boards.Ori Itzhaki led Bnei Hasharon with 28 points, while P.J. Tucker had 22 points and 11 rebounds for Dan Shamir’s team, which has yet to secure a playoff berth.A very tight first period ended in a 17-17 tie and set the tone for the entire encounter.Netanya opened a slender five-point margin (26-21) at the start of the second quarter, but Bnei Hasharon pegged the hosts back immediately and after the lead exchanged hands several times, the visitors took a 38-36 margin into the break.An 8-0 run at the closing stages of the third quarter gave Netanya a seven-point advantage (54-47) and the hosts led by as many as nine points (58-49) a minute into the fourth period.However, a 10-0 Bnei Hasharon surge got the visitors right back into the game and ensured there would be an exciting ending to the encounter.Another 10-0 run by Bnei Hasharon gave it a 72-70 lead inside the finalminute, only for Shmulik Brenner to tie the game and send it intoovertime.The visitors led from the start of the extra period, but Brenner camethrough in the clutch once again with time winding down to force asecond overtime (83-83).
Netanya didn’t allow Bnei Hasharon to get ahead in the second OT andthe hosts held on to claim a significant victory after Tucker missed ashot in the closing seconds.