The Israel Men’s National Basketball Team dropped a 92-86 decision to Germany on Friday night in a FIBA World Cup qualifier, falling to 2-3 in the first group stage ahead of its final game against Croatia on Monday.
Playing its designated home game in Riga, Latvia due to the security situation in Israel, Ariel Beit Halachmi’s squad spent much of the contest trying to erase an early deficit before mounting a late rally that fell short against the reigning world champions.
Germany opened the game with a 10-0 run and led by eight points after the first quarter, then gradually extended its advantage to more than 20 points in the third quarter. Israel responded with a spirited comeback in the final quarter behind Yam Madar, Khadeen Carrington and Tomer Ginat, cutting the deficit to single digits, but Germany held on for the victory.
Madar led Israel with 31 points, Carrington added 21, and Ginat chipped in with 16. Dennis Schroder paced Germany with 21 points, while Christian Sengfelder scored 16 and Kay Bruhnke added 15.
“I’m proud of the players, and I’m proud of where we are,” Beit Halachmi said. “Obviously, it wasn’t enough to beat a team of this caliber. We struggled on the boards, but especially with their 3-point shooting. Now we’re looking ahead to the next game. Every game is different. Croatia is a very good and talented team, and it’s also a road game in front of their crowd.”
Yair Kravitz also looked ahead to Monday’s matchup.
“We had a great fourth quarter, but unfortunately it wasn’t enough,” he said. “We’ll go to Croatia determined to give everything we have and earn a victory. We know it won’t be easy, but we’ll come ready to give 100%, just like we do in every game.”
Israel under-20 women’s dramatic win
Meanwhile, Israel’s Under-20 Women’s National Team evened its record at 1-1 at the European Championship in Lithuania with a dramatic 87-85 victory over Croatia.
Tal Natan’s team led for most of the contest before Croatia battled back to tie the game late. Ayala Oren then drew a foul on a 3-point attempt with 1.2 seconds remaining and calmly sank the first two free throws before intentionally missing the third to seal Israel’s first win of the tournament.
Gal Raviv starred once again with 26 points, including 25 after halftime, while adding nine assists. Maayan Cohen scored 14 points, and Oren finished with 11. Croatia controlled the boards with 55 rebounds, led by Petra Bozan’s 13-point, 11-rebound performance.
‘Already preparing for Lithuania’
“Credit to the players and my coaching staff,” Natan said. “Croatia is a very tall and physically strong team. We’ll have to improve our defense and rebounding, but I’m happy the players followed the tactical game plan and managed to win an important game. We’re already preparing for Lithuania.”
Israel will face host nation Lithuania on Tuesday in its final group-stage game.
The victory followed a narrow 68-66 opening loss to defending champion Spain, when Raviv scored 33 points before missing a potential game-winning 3-pointer at the buzzer.
See more Israeli sports coverage at www.sportsrabbi.com/en
Source:
www.jpost.com
