Jerusalem, Jun 14 (IANS): Euroleague side Maccabi Tel Aviv won the Israeli Basketball Super League championship for the 56th time after a 94-90 home win over Hapoel Tel Aviv in Game 3 of the best-of-three final series.
Maccabi, who failed to win the title last year, took a 26-23 lead at the end of the first quarter, thanks to points by Lorenzo Brown, in front of more than 11,000 fans at the Menora Mivtachim Arena in northern Tel Aviv, reports Xinhua.
An excellent second quarter by J'Covan Brown kept Hapoel's deficit low until halftime, with the score set at 42-38 for Maccabi.
Two consecutive dunks by Alex Poythress helped Maccabi increase the margin to 52-43, but points by Xavier Munford cut the gap to 59-63 in the 27th minute. Then, Roman Sorkin inspired Maccabi to take a 75-64 lead at the end of the third quarter.
Maccabi increased to 83-68 in the 33rd minute, but Hapoel performed an impressive 17-0 run to take an 85-83 lead with 3:16 minutes on the clock.
A three-pointer and four successful free throws by Wade Baldwin gave Maccabi a 92-87 lead with 21 seconds to go, but Jordan McRae left hope for Hapoel with a three-pointer, 10 seconds to the final buzzer.
Then, with eight seconds on the clock, Lorenzo Brown scored twice from the line, preventing Hapoel from winning the league title for the first time since 1969.
Baldwin, who was crowned MVP of the final series, and Lorenzo Brown scored 22 points each for Maccabi, adding 8 and 7 assists respectively. Sorkin finished with 13 points and 9 rebounds.
J'Covan Brown scored game-high 31 points for Hapoel, alongside 8 rebounds. His teammate Tomer Ginat contributed 14 points.