Maccabi Haifa Heat 67-Hapoel Jerusalem 66 (16/2/2009)

Haifa remove Jerusalem from the Cup on the way to the Cup Finals

Cup Semi-Finals: A dramatic basket by Moshe Mizrahi 2 seconds to the end of aifa the game has set 66:67 to the Greens against the holder of the cup, sending the Reds home.
The opponent on the Finals: Holon the Champion (179 comments)

By ONE System

February 16, 2009

It was nerve wrecking, it was dramatic, and eventually Maccabi Haifa managed to surprise HaPoel Jerusalem on the Cup Semi-Finals with 66:67 and to rise to the Finals for the first time since 1985.

It wasn’t a great game between the teams, to say the least, but it couldn’t have been more tide.
An incredible three-pointer by Omar Sneed 10 seconds to the end, when it seemed that Jerusalem’s offense got stuck, has granted Jerusalem with a 65:66 lead.

Jerusalem’s bench started celebrating, but it was too early.
Haifa got out on its last offense, Ben David has found Moshe Mizrahi uncovered under the basket, and Mizrahi scored, rising his team to a 66:67 lead along with a foul in his favor 2 seconds to the end.
Mizrahi missed, Jerusalem didn’t manage to get out on offense, and the Cup holder got kicked off.

After rising to the Cup Finals three years in a row, HaPoel Jerusalem will not arrive in the Nokia Arena, nor would it be able to make history, winning the title three years in a row for the first time in the Club’s history.

Haifa will meet Holon on the Finals, on the game between last year’s champion and the team that was called “The New Holon”, since it rose a league with huge expectations for succeeding in the League.

Maccabi Haifa Heat 75-Rishon LeZion 68 (7/2/2009)

Maccabi Haifa earned a home-win over Rishon LeZion, 68:75, in the 13th round of the Winner League. Ashkenazi's team remained in third place in the standings, while Rishon LeZion remained at the bottom.

In fact, Rishon LeZion appeared much better at the opening, running an offense to a quick lead, with the help of Obannon. The one taking responsibility for Haifa was Moshe Mizrahi who hit two important three-pointers, on the way to a 24-20 lead for the team from the Carmel.

The second quarter opened well for Berkovitch's team, but again, their weak defensive game led to a quick run by Haifa. Doron Perkins and his friends registered a number of great break-out offenses and got to halftime with a significant lead, 47-37.

Unlike previous quarters, Haifa looked good in the opening quarter, but throughout the game Haifa had a hard time scoring against good defense from the guests. Mossinzon enraptured the orange team with a lot of motivation, decreasing Haifa's lead to 59-55.

The fourth quarter was tied, mainly due to the fact that Perkins got injured. As Conley awakened, Rishon LeZion narrowed down the lead to 2, but a few smart decisions by Haifa by the end of the game along with missed shots from the three-point line by Rishon clinched the game at 75-68 to Haifa.

Maccabi Haifa Heat 94-Ironi Ramat Gan 74 (1/2/2009)

The Maccabi Haifa Heat got over two consecutive losses with an easy win over Ironi Ramat-Gan with 74:94. Unlike Haifa, Ramat Gan’s situation is quite troubling, losing four straight League games.

Davon Jefferson and Doron Perkins ended the game as the exceptional scorers of Maccabi Haifa with 19 points each, Brooks Sales added 17. The rest of Maccabi Haifa’s scorers: Moshe Mizrahi with 11, Todd Golden 8, Ido Kuzikaro 7, Amit Ben David 6, Kobi Isaac, Gur Porat and Ronald Ross with 2 points each and Ben Strong with 1 point.

Anthony Myles was most prominent among Ramat Gan with 20 points, Mike Helms has added 17. The rest of the scorers for Ironi Ramat Gan: Shmulik Brener 14, Lior Hachmon 10, Carmelo Lee 7, Lamont Jones 4, Gerry Grandel and Yariv Yatzkan 1 point each.

The game opened with 2 points by Brooks Sales, but Ramat Gan responded quickly, turning the score to 6-4 to Ramat Gan.

Ramat Gan rose the score to 11-6, but Haifa shrunk the lead down to 11-8. Haifa didn’t get too excited by Ramat Gan’s small lead, and Kuzikaro raised it to 14-13 from the line. Haifa maintained a small lead and Perkins buried a three-pointer, raising Haifa to 22-17. Haifa continued with its momentum and an impressive three-pointer by Golden at the buzzer set the quarter’s score, 30-21 to Maccabi Haifa.

Maccabi Haifa continued pushing and opened a fast 14 point lead, 35-21. Ramat Gan did not break down and reduced Haifa’s lead by the half, 37-30 to Maccabi Haifa.

At the 16th minute there was a 37 tie following a three-pointer by Michael Helms, but by the end of the quarter Haifa ran even further. At the 19th minute, Amit Ben David scores 49-43, 50-44 by the end of the quarter.

Haifa lit its burners on the third quarter, and Ramat Gan appeared miserable on the other side, except for Lior Hachmon who tried to deal with Haifa’s tall players under the basket, without too much success. Two three-pointers by Doron Perkins have set the third quarter’s score on the way to Haifa’s victory.

Haifa opened the last quarter with a limp, shooting only 5 points in 6 minutes, only because Doron Perkins got out. Coach Avi Ashkenazi quickly got himself together, got Perkins back to the parquet, and Haifa ran ahead all the way to the buzz winning justifiably, 94-74

B'nei Hasharon 75-Maccabi Haifa Heat 70 (24/1/2009)

Bnei Hasharon handed Maccabi Haifa its second straight BSL loss on Saturday, winning 75-70 on the road in Romema.

The teams combined for an unbelievable 43 turnovers in a physical and disorganized game, which was only decided in the fourth period.

Bnei Hasharon scored 30 points in the final 10 minutes, two more that it managed in the entire first half.

Ariel Beit-Halachmi's team is now tied on points with Haifa and is well placed to make a serious run for a top-four finish and home court advantage in the playoffs.

Richard Roby led Bnei Hasharon with 21 points, with Ugonna Onyekwe adding 19 points.

Doron Perkins and Ronald Ross each scored 15 points for Haifa.

Both teams combined for just 21 points in the first period, with Bnei Hasharon leading 11-10.

At the break, Haifa was ahead by a single point (29-28), but the visitors began the second half with a 9-0 run, capped by an Erez Katz three-pointer.

The hosts would answer back with an 11-0 run of their own, and the teams would be tied at 45-45 entering the fourth quarter.

The final 10 minutes belonged to Bnei Hasharon, which was unstoppable from beyond the arc in the period, and the side returned south with an important victory.

On Sunday, Maccabi Tel Aviv visits Hapoel Holon in the first meeting between the teams since last year's BSL championship game.

Only one Holon player from last year, Chris Watson, is still on the team's roster and Maccabi has also gone through wholesale changes since last season.

On Saturday, Maccabi signed point guard Dee Brown, 24, until the end of the season.

Brown, played for the University of Illinois, where in his final season he averaged 14.2 points, 5.8 assists, and 3.1 rebounds per game.

In his junior year at Illinois (2005), he was named National Player of the Year by the American magazine Sporting News.

Brown was picked 46th in the 2006 NBA draft by the Utah Jazz and during the 2006/07 season, played in 49 games for the Jazz, averaging 1.9 points and 1.7 assists in 9.2 minutes per game.

Brown started this season with the Washington Wizards, where he averaged 13.7 minutes in 17 games and contributed 2.4 points, and 1.9 assists.

Holon will be playing its third straight home league game since the winter break and is still searching for a first win.

Two weeks ago the side was surprised by Maccabi Givat Shmuel and last week its game against Ironi Ashkelon was called-off with 4.26 minutes remaining in the first period after Ashkelon's Rashon Turner broke one of the rims with a thunderous dunk.

Maccabi has won both its games since the break, beating Ironi Ramat Gan and Maccabi Haifa.

Also Sunday, Hapoel Galil Elyon/Gilboa hosts Ironi Ashkelon, Maccabi Rishon Lezion visits Ironi Ramat Gan and Ironi Nahariya hosts Ironi Kiryat Ata.

On Monday, Hapoel Jerusalem goes in search of its eighth straight league win when it plays Maccabi Givat Shmuel at Malha Arena.

Maccabi Tel Aviv 80-Maccabi Haifa Heat 68 (18/1/2009)

Maccabi Tel Aviv put its Euroleague struggles behind it on Sunday, claiming a hard-fought 80-68 BSL victory over the Maccabi Haifa Heat at the Nokia Arena.

Haifa led for large parts of the encounter, but scored just 10 points in the fourth period and the hosts recovered from Thursday night's thrashing at the hands of Unicaja Malaga with a second straight league win.

"We got the bad taste from Thursday out of our mouth," said Tel Aviv guard Marcus Brown, who led the team with 21 points. "This was a tough game, but we defended really well and sometimes defense is your best offense."

Carlos Arroyo and D'or Fischer added 18 and 14 points respectively. Doron Perkins carried the Heat for most of the game and ended the encounter with 24 points, hitting four of eight shots from beyond the arc.

"We lacked concentration on offense. We could have played much better tonight," Haifa coach Avi Ashkenazi said.

Also Sunday, the game between Hapoel Holon and Ironi Ashkelon was called off with 4.26 minutes remaining in the first period after Ashkelon's Rashon Turner broke the rim with a thunderous dunk.

After waiting for almost an hour-and-a-half while Holon staff tried to fix the basket, the referees decided to cancel the game and the hosts, who led 17-15 at the time, could well face a punishment from the BSL after not having a replacement basket on hand as required.

"This is the first time I've broken a basket," Turner said. "It must be quite old and that's why it broke so easily."

Ironi Nahariya claimed an important victory on Sunday, winning 93-92 at Maccabi Rishon Lezion thanks to a Ron Lewis three-pointer in the final seconds.

Rishon led 50-30 at the break and 72-55 with 10 minutes to play.

But Nahariya outscored the hosts 38-20 in the fourth quarter and put some distance between itself and the bottom of the table.

Lewis scored 24 points for the winners, with Aaron McGhee contributing 24 points and 14 rebounds.

Robert Conley led Rishon with 25 points, seven rebounds and six assists.

Bnei Hasharon rebounded from last week's surprise home loss to Rishon, defeating Ironi Ramat Gan 88-78 in Ra'anana on Sunday.

Meir Tapiro scored 21 points, passed eight assists and took six rebounds for Bnei Hasharon, with Anthony Myles leading the losers with 25 points and 11 rebounds.

On Monday, Hapoel Jerusalem visits Elitzur Kiryat Ata.

In Tel Aviv, the lead exchanged hands several times in the first five minutes of the encounter, but it was the visitors who dominated the second part of the first period.

A Perkins dunk opened a 15-9 lead and Amit Ben-David's jumper extended the margin to a record eight points (19-11).

The visitors took a 22-16 advantage into the second quarter, but the hosts were never too far behind and midway through the period went ahead (31-30).

Tel Aviv led 40-35 at the break after scoring the final five points of the first half, with Arroyo's three-point move capping the period.

Despite leading by a slender margin throughout the third quarter, the hosts went into the final 10 minutes trailing by a single point (58-57) following a Perkins three.

A Davon Jefferson dunk early in the fourth period opened a 62-59 margin for the Heat, but the visitors would lose their head in the subsequent minutes and Tel Aviv showed no mercy.

The hosts raced to an 11-0 run, capped by a Fischer dunk, opening a 70-62 gap from which Haifa could not return.

Maccabi Haifa Heat 79-Ashkelon 68 (12/1/2009)

Maccabi Haifa claimed its fourth straight BSL victory on Monday, defeating Ironi Ashkelon 79-68 at Romema.

Ashkelon put on a commendable performance, especially when considering the team has trained away from its hometown for the last couple of weeks due to the rocket attacks from Gaza.

However, Adi Azulai's team would have struggled against Haifa even in the best of situations, so it should come as no surprise that it trailed throughout Monday's encounter, eventually falling to its fifth defeat in six games.

Davon Jefferson led the winners, scoring 14 points, with Doron Perkins adding 13 points, 11 rebounds and six assists.

Steve Burtt scored 18 points for Ashkelon.

An early 10-0 run, capped by a Moshe Mizrahi three-pointer, opened a 12-4 Haifa lead, but Ashkelon was never too far behind, trailing 23-18 after 10 minutes.

The visitors even tied the score at 27-27 after a Burtt three, however, Maccabi regained the advantage immediately and took a 40-34 lead into the break.

A 13-3 run to start the second half extended the hosts margin to a record 16 points (53-37) and Ashkelon was still down by double-digits with 10 minutes remaining (60-50).

Haifa built on its lead in the first two minutes of the fourth period, scoring the first six points on the quarter to open an unassailable gap on the way to a comfortable victory.

Maccabi Haifa Heat 76-Givat Shmuel 60 (14/12/2008)

Maccabi Haifa Heat (6-2) defeated Givat Shmuel to move the Haifa Heat into third place in the Israeli Premier League. Yoni Nir of Givat Shmuel was the first one to get on the board, shooting the opening field goal of the game. Stephan Bradford and Corey Carr raised Givat Shumel’s lead to 7-2 right at the opening. Nir continued shooting, and after his sixth point, Givat Shmuel went up 13-4. Bradford raised Givat Shmuel’s lead to 15-5 forcing Avi Ashkenazi to call a timeout. Towards the end of the first quarter, Doron Perkins and B.J. McKie narrowed the gap down to 25-15 by the end of the quarter.

The second quarter started much better for Haifa, with Amit Ben-David and Ido Kozikaro tightening the score to 31-26. A field goal by McKie with 2 minutes to halftime tied the score to 31-31, but two free-throws by Carr gave a three-point lead back to the host. Five consecutive points by Carr left Haifa trailing, but Kozikaro along with a three-pointer by Ben David got the Greens with in two points 39-37 by halftime.

Haifa started the second half focused, with four points by Kozikaro raising the Greens to 44-41. McKie and Sales continued the guest’s momentum on the way to 48-41, four minutes from the opening of the second half. At this stage, Kukia, Watson and Washington had eight rebounds each. Davon Jefferson and Gur Porat increased the lead with their field goals making the score 57-49 with one minute to the end of the third quarter. Ben Strong’s basket ended the third quarter – 59:49 to Haifa.

Gur Porat and Ben David helped Haifa open the fourth quarter well, raising Ashkenazi’s team lead to 63:50. McKie and Kozikaro continued raising the lead up to 67:51, but Jermaine Hall and Moshe Brener tried to shake up their team a bit, closing the gap to 69:58. Doron Perkins’s three-pointer and later two more free-throws iced the game with Kozikaro setting the final score – 76:60 to Haifa.

Scored for Maccabi Haifa: Ido Kozikaro 17 points, Brooks Sales 13, B.J. McKie 12, Doron Perkins 11, Davon Jefferson 10 (11 rebounds), Amit Ben David 7, Gur Porat 4 and Ben Strong 2. Moshe Mizrahi played 20 minutes and didn’t score.

Maccabi Haifa Heat 86-Elittsur Kiryat Ata 76 (7/12/2008)

The smaller team from Kiryat Ata opened the game excellently led by Dante Milligan. There seemed that there was going to be an upset, but Avi Ashkenazi's team came out in the second half with an excellent half from Doron Perkins. By the third quarter, the Maccabi Haifa Heat left Kiryat Ata behind, on their way to win an 86-76 victory.

First Quarter: Kiryat Ata – Maccabi Haifa 17:21

Haifa started the game complacent, which was fully exploited by Kiryat Ata that catapulted them to a 10 point lead, 19-9, by the 7th minute. With one minute to the end of the first quarter, Haifa, led by Amit Ben David, narrowed the score down to 19-15, but Berkowitz's field goal at the buzzer put the score at 21-15 to Kiryat Ata.

Second Quarter: Kiryat Ata – Maccabi Haifa 36:36

At the 15th minute, Kiryat Ata was still securely leading, when Milligan Dante increased the lead to 33-26. Haifa then took control, led again by Amit Ben David. It was Devon Jefferson, who narrowed Kiryat Ata's lead to 33-32 by the 18th minute. A minute to the end of the first half, Gur Porat gave Haifa their first lead, 34-33, and by halftime, the score was tied at 36:36.

Third Quarter: Kiryat Ata – Maccabi Haifa 63:51

The third quarter was played excellently by Maccabi Haifa, led by Jefferson and the cheering of the crowd in the Nesher Hall, caused Haifa to start its engines. By the 28th minute, Doron Perkins raised the score to 60-57 with a dunk, and by the end of the quarter, Haifa raised the lead by 12 points. Haifa led 63:51 at the end of the quarter.

Fourth Quarter: Kiryat Ata – Maccabi Haifa 86:76

Maccabi Haifa continued dominating the second half. At the 32nd minute, Moshe Mizrahi who scored 14 points, scored a basket and was fouled to make the score 69-55. Five minutes later, Mizrahi hit a three pointer to make the score 78-64. Kiryat Ata tried to narrow down Haifa 's lead, but all it could do was finish the game 10 points behind. 86-76 to Haifa.

Kiryat Ata: Burns 21, Dante 20, McKnight 15

Maccabi Haifa: Perkins 20, Mizrahy 16, Jefferson 15.

Maccabi Haifa Heat 71-Nahariya 61 (29/11/2008)

The Maccabi Haifa Heat looked at the beginning of this season to be a potential surprise. Winning its first three games had people talking of a new Hapoel Holon. However, two straight losses put its season in doubt. Yesterday, Haifa responded by disposing of Ironi Nahariya 71-61.

At the same time, yesterday's third home loss indicated that Nahariya is not the competitive team it was a year ago. And when the season wraps up, analysts may look at the second half of this game as the decisive 20 minutes that determined the fate of these two teams.
Both teams displayed solid defense at the opening, and Nahariya looked to take control of the game. Raviv Limonad was the quiet floor general, while Ron Lewis completed a number of fast breaks with a resounding dunk. Only 12 first-half points by Brooks Sales kept Haifa within single-digits of the host team, trailing 40-31.

Haifa then came out of the locker room and owned the second half, while Nahariya was nowhere to be found. The Heat took control under the boards and denied Nahariya opportunities for second-chance points. Down 42-35, Haifa went on an 11-point run, and though it remained close until early in the fourth quarter, its dominance was no longer in doubt.

Moshe Mizrahi led Haifa with 17 points on 6-for-7 shooting from the field, including three trifectas.

Hapoel Jerusalem 80-Maccabi Haifa Heat 73 (23/11/2008)

A three point clinic by Sharon Sasson gave Hapoel Jerusalem an impressive 80-73 victory against Maccabi Haifa at Romema on Sunday.

The Hapoel forward scored 25 points, hitting seven of 11 attempts from beyond the arc, and made sure his team didn't suffer a drop from its victory over Maccabi Tel Aviv just 72 hours earlier.

"We are playing the best basketball in the BSL at the moment," said Sasson, who also grabbed six rebounds.

"We showed our character tonight. We were composed and determined," Hapoel coach Guy Goodes said. "I spoke to the players before the game to make sure they keep grounded after the Maccabi win, and they were mature enough to achieve this."

Omar Sneed scored 18 points and grabbed seven rebounds for Hapoel, with Doron Perkins leading the hosts with 21 points.

Maccabi Tel Aviv thrashed Maccabi Givat Shmuel 81-61 at the Nokia Arena on Sunday, but the win was far from convincing, as Maccabi allowed the visitors within three points in the final quarter after leading by 19 points at halftime.

"We were composed in the first half, but shot ourselves in the leg in the second half and needed to clinch the win in the final minutes," under-fire Maccabi coach Effi Birenboim said. "This lowers our shaky confidence even more."

Also Sunday, Miki Dorsman guided Maccabi Rishon Lezion to its first victory of the season in his debut on the sideline, defeating Ironi Ashkelon 88-80 on the road.

After a tight first half (42-42), Rishon took control of the game in the third and held on to the lead until the final buzzer.

"This wasn't a pretty victory, but the most important thing is that we won," Dorsman said.

Robert Conley scored 32 points and grabbed eight rebounds for the winners, with James Hughes adding 19 points and 10 rebounds, and Gili Mosinzon scoring 18 points.

Amit Tamir led Ashkelon, scoring 21 points, with the BSL's top scorer, Steve Burtt, being held to just 17 points.

Ironi Nahariya snapped its three game losing skid on Sunday, winning 79-64 at Ironi Ramat Gan.

"Even Pat Riley couldn't get more out of this roster," Ramat Gan coach Robi Balinko said after the loss. "We need to make changes to the team."

Nahariya got 19 points and 11 rebounds from Aaron McGhee, with Raviv Limonad scoring 17.

Carmelo Lee scored 16 points for Ramat Gan, which is still winless and is in serious trouble after falling to its fifth straight defeat.

On Monday, Hapoel Holon hosts Hapoel Galil Elyon/Gilboa.

At Romema, Perkins hit two straight three-pointers to end the first period, giving the hosts a 22-20 lead.

Jerusalem was the sharper team at the start of the second quarter but let up a little towards the end of the frame,allowing Haifa to take the lead.

However, Hapoel ended the period with an 8-0 run, capped by a Sasson triple, and led 42-41 at the interval.

The visitors continued to extend their gap in the third quarter, with a Timmy Bowers (10 points) basket giving the team a double-digit cushion (63-52).

Haifa closed to within seven points (66-59) by the start of the fourth period, but Sasson made sure that Jerusalem remained in front and clinched the win with his seventh three of the night with 90 seconds remaining.

In Tel Aviv, Maccabi got off to a dominating start and led 24-11 after 10 minutes.

The hosts were far from impressive, but Givat Shmuel was far worse, and Birenboim's men had a 19-point margin at the break (46-27).

The visitors took advantage of a lethargic Maccabi and closed to within three points (60-57) in the fourth period after Steffon Bradford scored seven straight points to cap an 11-0 Givat Shmuel run.

Oren Aharoni's team would never complete its comeback, however, with Maccabi regaining its composure and claiming a big win by ending the encounter with a 21-4 run.

Carlos Arroyo scored 19 points and passed eight assists, with Lior Eliyahu adding 18 points and seven rebounds.

Galil/Gilboa 88-Maccabi Haifa Heat 83 (15/11/2008)

Gilboa/Galil last night handed the Maccabi Haifa Heat its first loss of its debut Premier League season in a rousing overtime contest 88-83. The Heat blew a five-point lead in the final minute of regulation to set up the win for the home team.

The game saw several lead changes to the point that no team led at the end of two consecutive quarters. The Heat were ahead 18-17 after the first quarter only to see Galil go up 39-37 at halftime.
Haifa was up again 57-54 after the third period and was leading 73-68 with a minute to go when Galil's shooting guard Dagan Yavzuri hit a free throw to close the gap to four with 44 seconds to go. Yavzuri stole the ball on the next play and drew another foul. He missed his second free throw, but a lane violation by Haifa center Ido Kozikaro gave the ball back to Galil.

Brian Roberts then scored for Haifa and drew a foul to get an old-fashioned three-point play and knot the game with 20 ticks to go.

Galil took control of the contest in overtime to earn a share of first place. Roberts paced Galil with 21 points, while Doron Perkins - who missed Haifa's chance to win in regulation - led all scorers with 23 points.

Maccabi Tel Aviv's Carlos Arroyo, who missed Thursday's loss to Olympiacos with back pain, is expected to be back in the lineup for tonight's contest with Ironi Kiryat Ata.

Maccabi Haifa Heat 90-Hapoel Holon 71 (9/11/2008)

Maccabi Haifa cemented its place at the top of the BSL standings on Sunday, defeating Hapoel Holon 90-71 at Romema to extend its unbeaten start to the season to three games.

Haifa, which is the only team in the BSL yet to lose this season, besides Maccabi Tel Aviv which is 1-0, is not only winning its games, but is doing so in impressive fashion, thrashing opponents by an average 21 points so far this season.

"We didn't play well tonight, but we still won and that's encouraging," forward Ido Kozikaro said. "Hopefully, we can build on this and improve our play as well."

Doron Perkins led six Haifa players in double-figures, scoring 17 points and passing six assists. Brookes Sales added 16 points and 13 rebounds, with Moshe Mizrahi scoring 11 and Amit Ben-David, BJ McKie and Gor Porat contributing 10 points.

Luis Flores led Holon, scoring 25 points, with Chris Watson adding 14 points.

Also Sunday, Hapoel Galil Elyon/Gilboa defeated Ironi Ramat Gan 81-72 on the road behind Brian Roberts's 22 points.

Oded Katash's team, which also got 18 points and eight rebounds from Elishay Kadir, has now won two straight games, with Ramat Gan falling to 0-3.

Maccabi Givat Shmuel handed Maccabi Rishon Lezion its third consecutive defeat on Sunday, winning 87-76 at Or Yehuda.

Veteran Cory Carr led the winners with 24 points and seven rebounds, with the still-winless Rishon getting 18 points from Ken Tutt.

Steve Burtt led Ironi Ashkelon to yet another victory on Sunday, scoring 29 points in the 96-74 home victory over Elitzur Kiryat Ata.

Or Eitan added 20 points for the winners, with Draelon Barnes leading Kiryat Ata with 26 points.

On Monday, Maccabi Tel Aviv hosts Ironi Nahariya.

In Haifa, Maccabi was the sharper team at the start of the game and Sales's nice spin move gave the hosts an early five point margin (7-2).

Holon soon found its footing, though, and following an 11-3 run, led 20-19 after 10 minutes.

The lead continued to exchange hands in the second period, with Porat's three-pointer giving Maccabi a 31-24 advantage.

Hapoel remained within striking distance for most of the period, but its players tired as the first half progressed and Haifa's strong finish extended the team's gap to 12 points (46-34) at the break.

Just when it seemed Holon might be running out of ideas, the side pressured the hosts and forced turnovers, racing to a 15-0 run to start of the second half.

Watson's lay-up capped the superb run and gave the visitors a 49-46 lead, but it wouldn't take Maccabi long to answer back.

A 12-2 run capped by Mizrahi's three shifted the momentum in Haifa's favor once more, and the hosts took a five-point margin (60-55) into the fourth period.

Maccabi's gap continued to grow at the beginning of the final quarter and after three minutes reached double-figures (70-60).

Holon had no answer to Haifa's depth and McKie's two straight threes midway through the period opened an unassailable 12-point margin (78-66), and the hosts ended up cruising to the victory.

Maccabi Haifa Heat 81-Maccabi Rishon 54 (1/11/2008)

Maccabi Haifa (2-0) won’t stop. After last week’s win over Ramat Gan, Avi Ashkenazi’s team in their own home with a 81:54 victory.

Doron Perkins, who got lightly injured in the beginning of the week in his face and hand from a traffic accident in Tel Aviv, played 11 minutes on the court. The players pushing the Greens ahead were Davon Jefferson and B.J. McKie, who scored a combined 40 points and brought things to an end after three quarters.

The winning coach, Avi Ashkenazi, said at the end: “We came in very focused, our goal was to stop Rishon Le’Zion’s offense and to stop Conley. I do not underestimate Rishon, teams are not going to win easily out here, but we’ve done what we’ve planned and worked for. If it goes on like this, this is going to be an attractive season. I don’t compare us with Hapoel Holon, but I am in favor of setting a high standard of goals, and our goals this year are the Final Four.”