Maccabi Rishon Lezion defeated Hapoel Eilat 92-87 to knot up the Leumit Final series at 2-2 and send it to a winner-take-all fifth game down south by the Red Sea.
DJ Burns and Qua Grant starred for Sharon Drucker’s squad as the hosts battled for the entire 40 minutes to chalk up the victory. The winner of Game 5 will be promoted to the Premier League and will join Maccabi Ra’anana as the second Leumit League team to go up to the top division.
Burns scored 26 points, Grant added 22 points, and Freund put in 18 points for Rishon. Austin Tilghman scored 17 points, and Isaiah Eisendorf chipped in with 13 points for Eilat.
Qua Grant scored early and often, while Josh Freund also found points for the hosts, Tomer Porat and Isaiah Eisendorf kept the visitors close, down 24-21 after 10 minutes. Brandon Huffman and DJ Burns traded baskets, Austin Tilghman and Dusty Hannahs scored, but a pair of baskets by Jordan Coblin at the end of the half gave Rishon a slim 43-42 advantage.
Freund nailed a pair of triples, Grant added points to give the hosts a double-digit lead, but Eisendorf and Tilghman went from deep, and Porat scored inside to cut the gap to 64-60 after 30 minutes of action.
Tilghman, Eisendorf, and Or Ashkenazi all scored for Eilat while Grant and Burns countered, Golan Gutt and Freund traded triples, Coblin knocked down a corner three, Freund put in a layup, and Burns scored inside to force a return trip to Eilat.
“The guys showed a lot of character and came back after they hit some crazy baskets,” Rishon Lezion coach Sharon Drucker said. “But we knew what to do to finish off the game the best way possible. We made some great stops on the defensive end, and we made sure to hit our free throws.”
“We made some mistakes on both sides of the ball,” Eilat coach Danny Gutt began. “We needed to do a bit more work. I told the guys that the tactical work won’t be worth anything if there isn’t individual defending, and at the end of the day, we had to do a better job on our one-on-one defense and not allow them to dribble and do what they want.”
Burns, the game’s MVP, also spoke about the win.
“Obviously, this win was crucial for us to stay in the series, but we also needed it for our mentality. We felt like we let a game or two slip in the series, and we needed to get our motivation back, and we were able to do that… I was brought in to help this team go up to the top division, and I do it humbly.”
Jesus Christ is King
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