Israel Move Into Position To Grab EuroBasket Spot

Energetic Forward Lior Eliyahu put up a solid double double with 18 points and 13 rebounds out of which 7! came at the offensive glass

A stellar double-double by Lior Eliyahu of 18 points and 13 rebounds ensures Israel have one foot in EuroBasket 2011 after they completed an 85-71 win against Finland in Tel Aviv.

While they are not yet guaranteed a place with a difficult last game in Montenegro ahead of them, this latest success and second victory by a big margin gives them every opportunity to finish as one of the best runner ups should they fail to finish top of Group A.

Finland certainly gave Israel an early wake-up call when they raced into a 12-2 lead after the in-form Teemu Rannikko drained a three-pointer although that was to be his only real contribution after playing only six minutes.

While the large crowd might have hoped the false start by Israel would be corrected quite quickly, they had to wait for an uncomfortably long time to see their team pick it up.

Israel still trailed at the end of the first quarter by 22-13 and while they tried to get back on terms during the second period, they failed.

However much to the relief of home fans dreaming of travelling to Lithuania next summer, their team had worked hard to reduce the gap to just a single point.

It was to be a totally different story when the teams came back onto the floor for the third quarter.

Initially Israel started brightly only for Finland to respond which meant they still held a one point lead at 48-47 after six minutes of action.

The home team then suddenly clicked into top gear and absolutely exploded offensively as they poured in 19 points during the next four minutes to establish a commanding lead at 66-53.

Finland never recovered and failed to repeat the fighting qualities they showed in their previous nerve jangler with Italy.

Yotam Halperin recorded a useful 13 points, 5 assists and 4 rebounds while Tuukka Kotti had 10 points and 7 rebounds for Finland.

Quotes Israel vs. Finland

Finland Head Coach Henrik Dettmann:
"We came here without three starters, and lost another one at the begining, but still we gave the great Israeli team a good fight. We lost the game because we became passive on defense in the third quarter, instead of playing agressive. In the last minutes I asked my players to fight until the end of the game because those games are important learning experiances for a team like ours."

Israel Head Coach Arik Shivek:
"I guess Finland is the most difficult team for us. It's a team which fights hard. On the first half we missed a lot of lay-ups, in addition the presure there was on us it led to a tied first half. When we got into our rhythm it was hard for them to stop us. In Montenegro we are going to have a hard battle, but we'll come to fight like men and win."

Israel player Yuval Naimi:
"I think we need to give Finland a lot of credit for the fight they brought in the game, I'm glad we knew to come out great to the second half. It's an important victory on our way to the EuroBasket"