Maccabi Haifa Heat 86-Elittsur Kiryat Ata 76 (12/7/2008)

Monday, December 8, 2008

The smaller team from Kiryat Ata opened the game excellently led by Dante Milligan. There seemed that there was going to be an upset, but Avi Ashkenazi's team came out in the second half with an excellent half from Doron Perkins. By the third quarter, the Maccabi Haifa Heat left Kiryat Ata behind, on their way to win an 86-76 victory.
First Quarter: Kiryat Ata – Maccabi Haifa 17:21
Haifa started the game complacent, which was fully exploited by Kiryat Ata that catapulted them to a 10 point lead, 19-9, by the 7th minute. With one minute to the end of the first quarter, Haifa, led by Amit Ben David, narrowed the score down to 19-15, but Berkowitz's field goal at the buzzer put the score at 21-15 to Kiryat Ata.
Second Quarter: Kiryat Ata – Maccabi Haifa 36:36
At the 15th minute, Kiryat Ata was still securely leading, when Milligan Dante increased the lead to 33-26. Haifa then took control, led again by Amit Ben David. It was Devon Jefferson, who narrowed Kiryat Ata's lead to 33-32 by the 18th minute. A minute to the end of the first half, Gur Porat gave Haifa their first lead, 34-33, and by halftime, the score was tied at 36:36.
Third Quarter: Kiryat Ata – Maccabi Haifa 63:51
The third quarter was played excellently by Maccabi Haifa, led by Jefferson and the cheering of the crowd in the Nesher Hall, caused Haifa to start its engines. By the 28th minute, Doron Perkins raised the score to 60-57 with a dunk, and by the end of the quarter, Haifa raised the lead by 12 points. Haifa led 63:51 at the end of the quarter.
Fourth Quarter: Kiryat Ata – Maccabi Haifa 86:76
Maccabi Haifa continued dominating the second half. At the 32nd minute, Moshe Mizrahi who scored 14 points, scored a basket and was fouled to make the score 69-55. Five minutes later, Mizrahi hit a three pointer to make the score 78-64. Kiryat Ata tried to narrow down Haifa 's lead, but all it could do was finish the game 10 points behind. 86-76 to Haifa.
Kiryat Ata: Burns 21, Dante 20, McKnight 15
Maccabi Haifa: Perkins 20, Mizrahy 16, Jefferson 15.