Mac TA, J’lem into Winner Cup semifinals

Yellow-and-blue edges Herzliya to set up clash with Nahariya; Hapoel to face Rishon after subduing Hap TA

Maccabi Tel Aviv survived a scare to advance to the semifinals of the pre-season Winner Cup on Tuesday night, while Hapoel Jerusalem brushed aside Hapoel Tel Aviv even without the services of Amar’e Stoudemire.

Maccabi led by as many as 17 points in the third quarter, but found itself trailing Bnei Herzliya with less than three minutes to play.

The yellow-and-blue ultimately eked out a 77-74 win at Ein Sara Arena in Nahariya, which is hosting the entire tournament, with Herzliya missing a chance to send the game to overtime at the buzzer.

“I’m very happy we ended up winning like this and that we didn’t go on and increase the gap when we were ahead by 17 points,” insisted Maccabi’s new coach Erez Edelstein. “I always tell the players that they have to work hard for every win. You can make a game easy, but you can also find yourself in trouble from a leading position and the players need to understand that.”

Maccabi improved to 4-2 in pre-season action, with two of its wins coming against Euroleague opponents Barcelona and Panathinaikos.

Despite those impressive victories over continental powerhouses, Edelstein is happy his players are realizing they face some stern competition in MACCABI TEL AVIV swingman Sylven Landesberg scored a team-high 18 points in last night’s 77-74 win over Bnei Herzliya and Karam Mashour (right) in the quarterfinals of the pre-season Winner Cup. local action as well.

“The BSL is not an easy league. It is a league of mismatches with a different style of play,” explained Edelstein. “Sometimes it is easier to play European teams than it is Israeli opponents and we need to understand that.”

Maccabi faces Ironi Nahariya in the semifinals on Thursday, while Jerusalem plays Maccabi Rishon Lezion in the first semi of the day.

A tight first half in the second game of the day on Tuesday ended with Hapoel Tel Aviv leading Jerusalem by five points (3631). Jerusalem would only need one dominant quarter to clinch the win though, outscoring Tel Aviv 23-6 in the third period on the way to a 65-53 victory.

“We lifted our intensity level in the second half and it is as simple as that,” said Jerusalem captain Yotam Halperin. “We made adjustments at the break and knew what we had to do in the second half. It all comes down to defense.”

Lior Eliyahu led Jerusalem with 21 points and 11 rebounds, with Halperin adding 13 points. Six-time NBA All-Star Stoudemire was rested.

Richard Howell finished with 14 points for Tel Aviv.

In the first quarterfinal of the day, Herzliya scored nine of the opening 12 points and its lead reached double digits (30-20) following Tom Ma’ayan’s basket early in the second period.

It would be Maccabi which led at the break though, with Sylven Landesberg scoring 12 straight points at one stage to give the yellow-and-blue a six-point cushion (43-37) at the interval.

Maccabi carried the momentum into the second half, opening the third quarter with 11 consecutive points to establish a record 17-point margin (54-37).

Herzliya never gave up, cutting the deficit to just four points (59-55) by the end of the period. The underdog moved back in front in the fourth frame, with Jeff Adrien’s basket giving Herzliya a 70-67 edge with 5:46 minutes to play.

The game remained tight until the final buzzer, with Maccabi regaining the lead and taking a three-point advantage (75-72) into the final minute following Sonny Weems’s dunk.

Herzliya still trailed by three points ahead of its final possession, but Karam Mashour squandered two opportunities to send the game to overtime and Maccabi survived.

Landesberg led Maccabi with 18 points, with Yogev Ohayon scoring 13 and Gal Mekel adding 11.

Adrien finished with 24 points and eight rebounds for Herzliya.