The 23rd round of the National Basketball League was held tonight (Tuesday) with five games. In the spotlight: Maccabi Ramat Gan completed its sixth victory in a row in the derby games, after having no difficulty against Hapoel RG Givatayim. Maccabi Rishon Lezion recorded a narrow home victory over Maccabi Ma’ale Adumim and secured a playoff, as did Elizur Ashkelon, who defeated Elizur Shomron. Hapoel Afula is close to securing the First place at the end of the regular season, after a home victory over Ramat Hasharon.
Maccabi Ramat Gan – Hapoel RG Givatayim 69:79
Maccabi City Ramat Gan is in top form for the playoffs. Shmulik Brenner’s team achieved a sixth win in a row over the city rival this evening, and recorded a seventh win out of the last eight games. The hosts limited the Ordons to low shooting percentages and received a solid game from Harel Dadon and Kevin Kipers and that was enough for them to win. On the other hand, Hapoel RG Givatayim remains in last place and will need a miracle to stay.
Scored for Maccabi Ramat Gan: Kevin Kipers 16 pts, Harel Dadon 13 pts, Dimitrios Treadwell and Elijah Hirsch 11 pts 21, Jordan Cohen, Ben Altit and Daniel Rosenbaum 8 pts 21, Naor Sharon and Yoav Berman 2 pts A.
Scored for Reg Givataim: Lamonte Birdan 17 points, Eliad Tal 15 points, Gil Noivovich and Niv Ozan 11 points, Omer Harel 6 points, Storm Warren 5 points, Aviv Shimoni 4 points.
Maccabi Rishon Lezion – Maccabi Ma’ale Adumim 65:72
After many heart palpitations, Maccabi Rishon Lezion leaves with a home victory that guarantees it a place in the top playoffs. Nati Cohen’s team looked good in the first half, but in the second half Maccabi Ma’ale Adumim moved to the zone and managed to disrupt the game of the Oranges, who missed time and time again from outside the arc. 2 minutes to the end Tomer Cohen scored 5 points in a row, and hence the home victory was guaranteed.
Scored for Maccabi Rishon LeZion: Jay Evans 18 pts, Guy Palatin (9 steals) 15 pts, Daniel Danino 12 pts, Jared Armstrong 11 pts, Tomer Cohen and Igor Nesterenko 7 pts, Cody Riley 2 pts
Scored for Maccabi Maale Edumim: Eddie Akure (16 rebounds) 20 points, Duane Johnson 18 points, Ben Maman 9 points, Noam Akrish 8 points, Simcha Halpert and Ido Shabbat 5 points 21.
Elizur Shomron – Elizur Ashkelon 89:84
David Elharer’s debut game in Elizur Ashkelon ends with a nice victory over Elizur Shomron. The Southerners got Thomas Gipson back, but above all were Dakray Tucker and Gal Gilinski, who led their team to a valuable victory that guarantees playoffs for good. Throughout the game, the guests held the lead and every time they ran away, Deshon Burke (26 points) kept his team in the game, but the rest of his teammates were unable to complete a turnaround.
They scored for Elizur Shomron: Deshon Burke 26 points, Eyal Shulman (9 assists) 11 points, Gal Sternberg, Ido Fleischer and Chan Achrek 10 points, Yuval Levin 7 points, Amit Alon and Yuval Michaeli 3 points, Guy Rushkin and Keith Stone 2 point 21.
Scored for Elizur Ashkelon: Dekrai Tucker 24 points, Gal Gilinsky (12 assists, 8 rebounds) 19 points, Clark Rosenberg (7/8 from the field) 18 points, Shlomi Harosh 7 points, Eliran Haddad, Raviv Pitshon and Omar Ben David 2 points each A.
Hapoel Afula – AS Ramesh 78:93
The Northerners are close to securing their place at the top at the end of the regular season. Roi Pearl’s team continued their great ability tonight with an impressive victory over Ramat Hasharon, receiving a great game from Tomer Assig. In Ramat Hasharon, they were once again unable to take advantage of a loss by Ma’ale Adumim and the battle for eighth place continued.
Scored for Afola: Tomer Assig (8 assists, 7 rebounds) 18 points, Jimmy Hall 16 points, Alon Drucker 13 points, Lucas Goldenberg 12 points, Dor Anbi 11 points, Turalian Fitzpatrick 9 points, Daniel Nej R 7 pts, Tom Spector 3 pts, Tzachi Yitzhak and Roi Netsia 2 pts 21.
They scored to the level of: Yam Yonatan (6/8 for threes) 18 points, Diante Watkins 16 points, Tyler Weidman and Amit Bir Katz 13 points 21, Guy Farber 8 points, Amit Avo 6 points, Uri Chai 4 points.
Maccabi Rehovot – Maccabi Haifa 74:69
Third game in a row that Maccabi Rehovot drops a lead in the last quarter. Kobi Hasson’s team led throughout most of the stages of the game, but in the last quarter scored only 11 points against the guests’ 24. Following the victory, Maccabi Haifa maintains a chance to qualify for the top playoffs. On the other hand, Maccabi Rehovot with another loss, fails to open a gap from the red line.
Scored for Maccabi Rehovot: Brent Jackson 15 points, Brandon Sherwood (13 rebounds) 14 points, Josh Freund 12 points, Itai Geva 8 points, Shai Guetta 7 points, Gal Halamish 6 points, Yevgeni Kholodov 4 points, Tomer Abramovich 3 points.
Scored for Maccabi Haifa: Edmon Gilder 18 pts, Daniel Koperberg 15 pts, Danel Khozhinoff 12 pts, Richard Howell 11 pts, Stedmon Lemon 8 pts, Ofek Malka 7 pts, Anton Shutbin 3 pts.