Ashdod tops Maccabi Tel Aviv to move even on points
“This was a really strong team effort,” said Greenberg. “We held them under 80 points which we needed to do and were balanced on offense. This is a good win.”
By ALLON SINAIMaccabi Ashdod’s Nimrod Levy(photo credit: LIRON MOLDOVAN/BSL)
Maccabi Ashdod moved tied with Maccabi Tel Aviv for the best record in the BSL on Sunday, beating the yellow-and-blue 86-79 for its ninth straight victory.Ashdod hasn’t lost in two months and coach Brad Greenberg’s team once more kept its opponent under 80 points the way it has done throughout its winning streak.Tel Aviv got back to winning ways with an 86-82 win at Hapoel Holon last week, but has clearly still not found its way, losing for the 13th time in its past 18 games over all competitions to fall to 18-9, just like Ashdod.“This was a really strong team effort,” said Greenberg. “We held them under 80 points which we needed to do and were balanced on offense. This is a good win.”Greenberg doesn’t want his players to get ahead of themselves, but knows that his team is quickly becoming a dark horse to go all the way.“We take it one game at a time and one practice at a time but our body of work since January is pretty strong and it is credit to these guys that they make it easy for me every day in practice,” he explained.“They come in ready to work. They like each other, they play defense and pass the ball to each other. It is a fun team to coach. I just want us to play to our capacity.We have still got room for improvement and we have to keep that in mind.”Sek Henry had 18 points for Ashdod, with Nimrod Levy contributing 15 points and seven rebounds and Cameron Long finishing one rebound short of a triple double, registering 14 points, 11 assists and nine boards.“This was just another night,” said Long. “We came out here and really executed and played together and that is what is keeping our streak alive. We are the best team in the league.”
Alex Tyus had 15 points and 10 rebounds for Tel Aviv, which will hope new signing Jeremy Pargo will be able to help the team.Elsewhere, Hapoel Holon’s slump since the departure of Glen Rice Jr. continued with an 89-65 defeat to Hapoel Tel Aviv. Tony Gaffney had 22 points for Tel Aviv, which improved to 15-12. Jordan Hamilton had 18 points for Holon, that fell to 17-10, tied with Hapoel Jerusalem.Also Sunday, Hapoel Eilat defeated Maccabi Haifa 77-75.
