National League Round 22 (Regular Season): #1 M.Rehovot is defeated by M.Haifa

The games are now more important than at the beginning of the Regular Season. We may still expect few shocking results in upcoming 4 rounds. Here is the last round review presented by Job Market.

The most surprising game was a loss of top-ranked M.Rehovot (15-5) on the court of thirteenth ranked M.Haifa on Saturday night. Visitors were rolled over by M.Haifa 98-78. It ended at the same time the two-game winning streak of M.Rehovot. They outrebounded M.Rehovot 38-23 including 24 on the defensive glass. M.Haifa looked well-organized offensively handing out 24 assists. American forward Brandon Bowman (206-1984, college: Georgetown) had a double-double by scoring 24 points and 11 rebounds (made all of his seven free throws) to lead the charge for the winners and guard Eyal Harel (198-2004) chipped in 22 points and 9 rebounds during the contest. At the losing side guard Omer Ben David (188-2001) responded with 15 points and 8 assists. Both coaches used bench players which allowed the starters a little rest for the next games. M.Haifa maintains thirteenth position with 6-14 record. M.Rehovot at the other side still keeps top place with five games lost. M.Haifa are looking forward to face higher ranked M.Ma'ale Adum. (#12) in Ma'ale Adumim in the next round and it may be quite challenging game. M.Rehovot will play at home against H.Kfar Qasem (#7) and is hoping to win this game.
Very important is a road loss of second ranked E.Netanya (13-7) against tenth ranked E.Shomron (9-11) on Saturday night. Visiting E.Netanya was defeated by E.Shomron in Shomron 102-89. It ended at the same time the three-game winning streak of E.Netanya. Naturalized Polish center Ido Flaisher (208-1998, college: Hawaii) notched 15 points, 9 rebounds and 5 assists to lead the effort and Yuval Levin supported him with 19 points, 5 rebounds and 4 assists. Even 22 points and 7 assists by guard Omer Poleg (185-1999) did not help to save the game for E.Netanya. E.Netanya's coach Ruben Najberger rotated eleven players in this game, but that didn't help. E.Shomron moved-up to eighth place, which they share with H.Gilboa Galil. E.Netanya at the other side keeps the second position with seven games lost. E.Shomron will have a break next round, and it should allow them to practice more before next game. E.Netanya will play at home against H.Safed Galil and hopes to get back on the winning track.
Very important is a road loss of third ranked E.Ashkelon (12-9) against ninth ranked H.Gilboa Galil (9-11) on Friday night. Visiting E.Ashkelon was defeated by H.Gilboa Galil in a tough game in Gan Ner 61-66. Josh Aldrich fired 18 points and 9 rebounds for the winners. Nimrod Tishman produced 14 points and 4 assists for lost side. Both coaches tested many bench players in such tough game. H.Gilboa Galil moved-up to eighth place, which they share with E.Shomron. Loser E.Ashkelon dropped to the fourth position with nine games lost. H.Gilboa Galil will meet Ramat Hash. (#11) in the next round. E.Ashkelon will play against I.Nahariya (#5) and it may be a tough game between close rivals.

There were no shocking results in the other games in round 22: Ramat Hash. was destroyed by H.Kfar Qasem on the opponent's court 86-63. M.Raanana outscored M.Ma'ale Adum. in a home game 103-78. M.Rishon managed to beat H.Safed Galil on the road 85-82.
The most impressive stats of the last round was 21 points, 6 rebounds and 7 assists by Itay Geva of H.Safed Galil.



H.Kfar Qasem - Ramat Hash. 86-63

Rather expected game when 11th ranked Ramat Hash. (8-12) was crushed on the road by eighth ranked H.Kfar Qasem (9-10) 86-63 on Friday. H.Kfar Qasem looked well-organized offensively handing out 22 assists. Naturalized Romanian Yaniv Solomon (200-1994) fired a double-double by scoring 18 points and 17 rebounds for the winners. Naturalized American point guard Paul Delaney (188-1986, college: UAB) chipped in 16 points, 6 rebounds and 6 assists. Four H.Kfar Qasem players scored in double figures. Hen Halfon (196-1996) produced 21 points and 9 rebounds and center Amit Bier-Katz (208-1988) added 12 points and 13 rebounds respectively for lost side. Ramat Hash.'s coach Guy Kantor gave up on the game allowing to play eleven players seeing no chance for a win. H.Kfar Qasem moved-up to seventh place. Loser Ramat Hash. keeps the eleventh position with 12 games lost. H.Kfar Qasem will meet league's leader M.Rehovot on the road in the next round and they do not belong to the favorites in that game. Ramat Hash. will play against H.Gilboa Galil (#8) and hope to secure a win.
Top scorers:
Ramat Hash.: H.Halfon 21+9reb, A.Bier-Katz 12+13reb+1ast, G.Rushkin 11+6reb+1ast, O.Malka 9+2reb+2ast, I.Paz 4+2reb+6ast, A.Guy 2+3reb+1ast
H.Kfar Qasem: Y.Solomon 18+17reb, T.Efi 17+3reb+2ast, P.Delaney 16+6reb+6ast, R.Nitai 13+10reb+3ast, A.Sasson 9+3reb+2ast, S.Harush 8+3reb+7ast

E.Shomron - E.Netanya 102-89

Very important is a road loss of second ranked E.Netanya (13-7) against tenth ranked E.Shomron (9-11) on Saturday night. Visiting E.Netanya was defeated by E.Shomron in Shomron 102-89. It ended at the same time the three-game winning streak of E.Netanya. E.Shomron shot 61.5 percent from the field and made 24-of-30 charity shots (80.0 percent) during the game. E.Shomron had a 31-17 advantage in offensive rebounds. They shot the lights out from three nailing 14 long-distance shots on high 58.3 percentage. E.Shomron players were unselfish on offense dishing 25 assists. E.Netanya was plagued by 27 personal fouls down the stretch. Naturalized Polish center Ido Flaisher (208-1998, college: Hawaii) notched 15 points, 9 rebounds and 5 assists to lead the effort and forward Yuval Levin (202-2003, agency: Avi Zilberman) supported him with 19 points, 5 rebounds and 4 assists. Even 22 points and 7 assists by guard Omer Poleg (185-1999) did not help to save the game for E.Netanya. Ilay Shaul (-2001) added 16 points and 5 rebounds (made all of his eight free throws) for lost side. Five E.Shomron and four E.Netanya players scored in double figures. E.Netanya's coach Ruben Najberger rotated eleven players in this game, but that didn't help. E.Shomron moved-up to eighth place, which they share with H.Gilboa Galil. E.Netanya at the other side keeps the second position with seven games lost. E.Shomron will have a break next round, and it should allow them to practice more before next game. E.Netanya will play at home against H.Safed Galil and hopes to get back on the winning track.
Top scorers:
E.Netanya: P.Omer 22+3reb+7ast, S.Ilay 16+5reb+3ast, S.Imri 11+5reb, I.Ariel 10+2reb+2ast, G.Shoham 9+3reb+4ast, D.Ilay 8+4reb
E.Shomron: J.Coblin 23+2reb+1ast, D.Shachar 20+4reb+3ast, L.Yuval 19+5reb+4ast, I.Flaisher 15+9reb+5ast, E.Shulman 11+4reb+10ast, A.Shimoni 9+8reb

M.Haifa - M.Rehovot 98-78

The most surprising game was a loss of top-ranked M.Rehovot (15-5) on the court of thirteenth ranked M.Haifa on Saturday night. Visitors were rolled over by M.Haifa 98-78. It ended at the same time the two-game winning streak of M.Rehovot. They outrebounded M.Rehovot 38-23 including 24 on the defensive glass. M.Haifa looked well-organized offensively handing out 24 assists. American forward Brandon Bowman (206-1984, college: Georgetown) had a double-double by scoring 24 points and 11 rebounds (made all of his seven free throws) to lead the charge for the winners and guard Eyal Harel (198-2004) chipped in 22 points and 9 rebounds during the contest. Five M.Haifa players scored in double figures. At the losing side guard Omer Ben David (188-2001) responded with 15 points and 8 assists and naturalized American forward Josh Freund (204-1997, college: Roanoke) scored 20 points. Both coaches used bench players which allowed the starters a little rest for the next games. M.Haifa maintains thirteenth position with 6-14 record. M.Rehovot at the other side still keeps top place with five games lost. M.Haifa are looking forward to face higher ranked M.Ma'ale Adum. (#12) in Ma'ale Adumim in the next round and it may be quite challenging game. M.Rehovot will play at home against H.Kfar Qasem (#7) and is hoping to win this game.
Top scorers:
M.Rehovot: J.Freund 20+4reb, B.David Omer 15+4reb+8ast, R.Ido 10+2ast, S.Daniel 9+3reb, A.Tomer 9+1reb+4ast, H.Eliran 8+4reb
M.Haifa: B.Bowman 24+11reb+2ast, H.Eyal 22+9reb+2ast, C.Ron 17+3reb+6ast, A.Amit 13+3reb+6ast, M.Amit 10+4reb+1ast, D.Sharp 9+2ast

M.Raanana - M.Ma'ale Adum. 103-78

Very predictable result when fifth ranked M.Raanana (12-8) smashed at home 12th ranked M.Ma'ale Adum. (7-13) 103-78 on Saturday. M.Raanana made 31-of-40 free shots (77.5 percent) during the game, while M.Ma'ale Adum. only scored thirteen points from the stripe. They outrebounded M.Ma'ale Adum. 44-29 including a 35-22 advantage in defensive rebounds. M.Raanana looked well-organized offensively handing out 23 assists. Power forward Jonatan Mor (204-1995) fired a double-double by scoring 18 points, 11 rebounds and 5 assists for the winners. Swingman Dori Sahar (195-2001, agency: Avi Zilberman) chipped in 18 points and 8 rebounds. Guard Daniel Najar (193-2001) produced 23 points and 6 assists and point guard Gil Noyovitch (184-2001) added 12 points, 5 rebounds and 5 assists respectively for lost side. Both teams had five players each who scored in double figures. The winner was already known earlier in the game, so both coaches allowed to play the bench players saving starting five for next games. M.Raanana moved-up to third place. Loser M.Ma'ale Adum. keeps the twelfth position with 13 games lost. M.Raanana will meet M.Rishon (#6) in the next round. M.Ma'ale Adum. will play against M.Haifa (#13) and it may be a tough game between close rivals.
Top scorers:
M.Ma'ale Adum.: N.Daniel 23+4reb+6ast, S.Kadosh 12+4reb, B.Orion 12+4reb+1ast, N.Gil 12+5reb+5ast, T.Spector 10+2reb+1ast, A.Roe 4
M.Raanana: E.Alber 18+4reb+3ast, J.Mor 18+11reb+5ast, O.Hai 18+3reb+5ast, D.Sahar 18+8reb+1ast, S.Yoav 10+7ast, S.Yoav 7+5reb+1ast

H.Gilboa Galil - E.Ashkelon 66-61

Very important is a road loss of third ranked E.Ashkelon (12-9) against ninth ranked H.Gilboa Galil (9-11) on Friday night. Visiting E.Ashkelon was defeated by H.Gilboa Galil in a tough game in Gan Ner 61-66. American forward Josh Aldrich (201-1999, college: Charlotte) fired 18 points and 9 rebounds for the winners. Point guard Amit Aharoni (185-2002, agency: Avi Zilberman) chipped in 11 points, 8 rebounds and 6 assists. Four H.Gilboa Galil players scored in double figures. Naturalized Polish point guard Nimrod Tishman (197-1991, agency: Avi Zilberman) produced 14 points and 4 assists and naturalized American center Ben Eisenhardt (208-1990, college: Whitman) added 8 points and 10 rebounds respectively for lost side. Both coaches tested many bench players in such tough game. H.Gilboa Galil moved-up to eighth place, which they share with E.Shomron. Loser E.Ashkelon dropped to the fourth position with nine games lost. H.Gilboa Galil will meet Ramat Hash. (#11) in the next round. E.Ashkelon will play against I.Nahariya (#5) and it may be a tough game between close rivals.
Top scorers:
E.Ashkelon: N.Tishman 14+3reb+4ast, A.Alon 10+4reb, B.Eisenhardt 8+10reb, S.Amit 6, C.Rosenberg 5+3reb+1ast, F.Noam 5+5reb
H.Gilboa Galil: J.Aldrich 18+9reb, I.Davidi 13+6reb+3ast, E.Hirsh 13+8reb+1ast, A.Aharoni 11+8reb+6ast, G.Daniel 9+3reb+1ast, L.Niv 2+1reb

H.Safed Galil - M.Rishon 82-85

Not a big story in a game when 9th ranked H.Safed Galil (9-12) was edged at home by seventh ranked M.Rishon (10-10) 85-82 on Saturday. M.Rishon made 16-of-21 free shots (76.2 percent) during the game. Naturalized Polish guard Gal Gilinski (195-1995, agency: Avi Zilberman) fired a triple-double by scoring 12 points, 12 rebounds and 10 assists for the winners. Guard Shalev Lugashi (194-2001) chipped in 22 points and 7 rebounds (made all of his eight free throws). Guard Itay Geva (188-2001) produced 21 points, 6 rebounds and 7 assists and the former international power forward Daniel Koperberg (208-1997) added 10 points, 15 rebounds and 7 blocks respectively for lost side. Both teams had five players each who scored in double figures. M.Rishon moved-up to sixth place. Newly promoted H.Safed Galil dropped to the tenth position with 12 games lost. M.Rishon will meet at home higher ranked M.Raanana (#3) in the next round and it may be quite challenging game. H.Safed Galil will play against the league's second-placed E.Netanya (#2) and hope to secure a win.
Top scorers:
H.Safed Galil: G.Itay 21+6reb+7ast, O.Ben-Yakov 17+2reb+2ast, C.Tomer 15+6reb+6ast, O.Dvir 14+5reb+1ast, D.Koperberg 10+15reb+2ast, T.Maayan 3
M.Rishon: L.Shalev 22+7reb+1ast, H.Dadon 17+4reb, R.Pitshon 13+4reb+5ast, G.Gilinski 12+12reb+10ast, K.Danel 11+4reb+3ast, I.Shabat 6