By Eurohoops Team/ info@eurohoops.net
After falling into an early 12-point deficit, Hapoel Bank Yahav Jerusalem stormed back and defeated Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv, 77-74, in overtime.
A win in a heated Pais Arena on Thursday tied a best-of-three championship series at 1-1 and forced a Game 3 in Menora Mivtachim Arena on Sunday.
In Game 2 of the Israeli Finals, Jared Harper recorded a game-high 26 points and Justin Smith followed with 20 points, including a bucket to force overtime, after Rokas Jokubaitis netted a floater and left 1.8 seconds on the clock. Gabriel Chachashvili and Tarik Phillip were out for head coach Yonatan Alon.
On the opposite end, Jokubaitis scored a game-high 26 points but missed two game-tying opportunities at the end of the extra period. Roman Sorkin had 21 points. In addition to Jasiel Rivero and Marial Shayok nursing injuries over recent months, unregistered Nathan Mensah remained sidelined as well for the team guided by Oded Kattash.
Winner League Playoffs
Quarterfinals (best of five)
Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv – Ironi Hai Motors Ness Ziona 3-0 (96-73, 83-65, 98-75)
Bnei PenLink Herzeliya – Hapoel Netanel Holon 2-3 (78-86, 99-94, 94-86, 96-95, 81-83)
Hapoel Shlomo Tel Aviv – Hapoel Gilboa Galil 3-0 (103-95, 93-78, 86-72)
Hapoel Bank Yahav Jerusalem – Maccabi Ramat Gan 3-0 (81-58, 102-100, 87-61)
Semifinals (best of three)
Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv – Hapoel Netanel Holon 2-0 (90-81, 85-73)
Hapoel Shlomo Tel Aviv – Hapoel Bank Yahav Jerusalem 1-2 (88-85, 87-98, 83-86)
Finals (best of three)
Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv – Hapoel Bank Yahav Jerusalem 1-1 (91-88, 74-77)
Photo Credit: EuroleagueBasketball.net