Bnei Herzliya clipped Hapoel Holon 96-93 as John Meeks drained a game-winning three-pointer to knot up their quarterfinal series at 2-2 and send it to a do-or-die Game 5, with the winner playing Maccabi Tel Aviv in the semifinal series.
Markel Johnson had the hot hand early as Elijah Stewart also scored with ease for Herzliya, but Mike Davis and Netanel Artzi matched them shot for shot to send the Purples into halftime with a 53-51 advantage.
Herzliya’s Chinanu Onuaku and Holon’s Idan Zalmanson took control of the proceedings in the third quarter as Johnson and Davis continued to fill the basket giving the visitors the lead, but Iftach Ziv knotted the game up at 93-93 with under a half a minute remaining.
That allowed Meeks to perform his heroics and hit the game winner to set up a winner-take-all Game 5 back in Herzliya.
Johnson scored 28 points, Meeks and Stewart added 20 points apiece, while Onuaku scored 14 points in the win. Davis scored 25 points, Ziv put in 15 points, and DJ Copper scored 13 points in the loss.
'A win that keeps us in the series'
“This was a sweet win that keeps us in the series,” Bnei Herzliya coach Yehu Orland began. “We made one play that was better than his with that last-second three-pointer. I can’t say we controlled the game because Holon was very much in control. This series is very important for Israeli basketball because the other three series ended in 3-0 sweeps and Holon was close to doing the same.”
Meeks spoke about the win. “As for the winning basket, I got scored on on the last play, so I was upset. We had come up with the play the night before, and I had the ball in my hands and I had to make a play, which I did.”
Zalmanson reflected on the game from Holon’s perspective.
“We are disappointed, and we really blew it as the game was in our hands, but we are already focusing on Game 5. We know what we need to do, and we won’t dwell on this too much. Our backs will be against the wall, but we will come in ready to get the job done.”
Hapoel Jerusalem and Hapoel Tel Aviv, who already advanced, will face off in the other best-of-three semifinal series.