Maccabi Elite clinched place in the Final Four

Bynum dunk (AP Photo)

11-04-2008 00:09

Maccabi Elite is headed back to the Final Four! Maccabi clinched its seventh Final Four berth in the last nine seasons on Thursday night with an 88-75 win over AXA FC Barcelona in Game 3 of their best-of-three Quarterfinal Playoffs series at Nokia Arena in Tel Aviv.

Will Bynum and David Bluthenthal came off the bench for 21 points apiece – more than the entire starting five – and Yotam Halperin added 17 points and 9 assists for the Israeli champs. Maccabi trailed early, but Bynum and Bluthenthal hit back-to-back three-pointers to open the second period and the Israeli champs never trailed again.

Barca cut the gap to 3 in the third quarter, however Terence Morris and Bluthenthal pushed the lead back to double-figures. The game took an unexpected twist as a skirmish developed between Vonteego Cummings and Gianluca Basile. The two were subsequently ejected as were Maccabi’s Derrick Sharp and Esteban Batista for leaving the bench. However Maccabi held on with hot shooting from Bynum and Bluthenthal down the stretch to seal the win.

Roger Grimau paced Barcelona with 18 points, Fran Vazquez added 15 points and 13 rebounds and Jaka Lakovic added 13.