Mac Haifa wrests 2nd seed away from Eilat

Greens edge Southerners in dramatic regular-season finale; quarterfinal playoffs set to begin

MONDAY, MAY 6, 2013 THE JERUSALEM POST

Maccabi Haifa edged Hapoel Eilat 77-75 on Sunday night to dramatically end the BSL regular season in the runner-up position.

Haifa came back from a double-digit halftime deficit (43-33) and clinched the No. 2 seed in the playoffs after ending the game with a 9-0 run, capped by a Paul Stoll three-pointer with 8.7 seconds to play.

Stoll finished the night with 22 points and seven steals, with Donta Smith adding 15 points for Haifa (17-10), which leapfrogged Eilat and will face Hapoel Gilboa Galil (14-13) in the best-of-five playoff quarterfinals.

Larry O’Bannon and Afik Nissim scored 13 points each for Eilat (17-10), which will square off against Maccabi Rishon Lezion (12-15) in the quarters.

Two of the four quarterfinal playoff series’ were already set prior to Sunday, with No. 1 seed Maccabi Tel Aviv to come up against Hapoel Tel Aviv ( 8) and Barak Netanya (4) to play Hapoel Jerusalem (5).

The intriguing

series ODED KATASH (left) and Hapoel Eilat will only enter the BSL playoffs as the No. 3 seed after suffering a 77-75 defeat at Maccabi Haifa last night. Meanwhile, Maccabi Tel Aviv’s Shawn James (right) had 13 points in a 94-67 romp over Barak Netanya. between Netanya and Jerusalem will get underway on Wednesday, with the remaining showdowns to start on Thursday.

After two consecutive overtime defeats, Maccabi Tel Aviv ( 22- 5) bounced back on Sunday with a 9467 thrashing of Netanya ( 15- 12).

Maccabi ended the first period with an 8-0 run to open a 21-13 lead and all but secured the victory by taking a 20-point cushion (49-29) into the break.

David Logan led five Maccabi players in double figures with 15 points, with Marco Killingsworth scoring 21 for Netanya.

Hapoel Jerusalem will also enter the series against Netanya on the back of a defeat after falling to a 106104 overtime loss to Rishon Lezion at Malha Arena.

Dan Grunfeld led seven Jerusalem players in double digits with 22 points, but the team from the capital couldn’t overcome a career night by Rishon’s young Israeli star Or Solomon, who had 27 points and nine rebounds.

Hapoel Holon ended its season on Sunday with a 77-70 road win over Hapoel Tel Aviv.

Jerome Dyson netted 24 points for the winners, with Demontez Stitt scoring 24 for Tel Aviv.

Meanwhile, Holon was officially purchased on Sunday by an ownership group headed by Shlomo Aizic, founder and chairman of the U-NET insurance group. Miki Dorsman, who owned and coached the team to the championship in 2008, is also part of the group and will be in charge of professional matters.

Also Sunday, Maccabi Ashdod defeated Gilboa 79-73, while Bnei Herzliya thrashed the relegated Ironi Ashkelon 99-81. SUPER LEAGUE

GP W L PD Pts Mac Tel Aviv 27 22 5 362 49 Maccabi Haifa 27 17 10 74 44 Hapoel Eilat 27 17 10 101 44 Barak Netanya 27 15 12 30 42 Hap Jerusalem 27 13 14 22 40 Mac Rishon Lezion 27 12 15 -33 39 Hap Gilboa/Galil 27 14 13 -12 41 Hap Tel Aviv 27 13 14 -46 40 Hapoel Holon 27 12 15 -17 39 Maccabi Ashdod 27 11 16 -98 38 Bnei Herzliya 27 10 17 -146 37 Ironi Ashkelon 27 6 21 -237 33 Sunday’s results: Maccabi Haifa 77, Hapoel Eilat 75; Maccabi Tel Aviv 94, Barak Netanya 67; Maccabi Rishon Lezion 106, Hapoel Jerusalem 104; Hapoel Holon 77, Hapoel Tel Aviv 70; Maccabi Ashdod 79, Hapoel Gilboa/Galil 73; Bnei Herzliya 99, Ironi Ashkelon 81.