Game Summary

Turning point: Israel fought hard in the first half to maintain their rebounding dominance, and time after time it seemed things would be ok, but mid way in the third quarter Jeremiah Massey and Pero Antic blasted the illusion. They fed each other, grabbed one offensive rebound after another and made the Israeli defense acknowledge things are about to be different in the second half.

Hero: Todor Gecevski combined big plays in the last quarter to make things happen for F.Y.R of Macedonia. A three pointer, a big block and assist for another three pointer gave his team their biggest lead of the night, 66-57

Stats: Just like yesterday Israel's main problem was in the rebounds, where they allowed their opponent to grab no less than 14 offensive boards, 12 of them in the last three quarters. F.Y.R of Macedonia used those rebounds to gather no less than 18 second chance points, and in such a close game it all made a difference.

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History took place today in Poznan as F.Y.R of Macedonia wrote their first ever win in the final round of EuroBasket after an 82-79 victory over Israel.

With this win they climb to a 1-1 record, while Israel dropped to 0-2 before the closing day tomorrow.

In the first half the lead changed hands five times and the score was tied the same amount. When the buzzer sent the teams to the break F.Y.R of Macedonia held a 40-39 lead, but it was enough to hang on to.

Israel never took the lead back and chased after their opponent in the following 20 minutes.

Raviv Limonad's three ball with three seconds on the clock cut the margin to just a point, but it wasn't enough.

The Macedonians dominated the boards, especially in the second half and didn't allow Israel to regain the lead, on their way to an historical win.

The disappointment on the Israeli side was immense as captain Tal Burstein said: "If we didn't beat the Macedonians, we don't deserve to be in the next round."

14 offensive rebounds by F.Y.R of Macedonia translated to 18 second chance points that turned out to be decisive.

Israel's center Yaniv Green got injured in the 15^th minute and other than a few minutes in the second half couldn't play anymore, which hurt Israel's chance to match the bigs at the other end.

Pero Antic led the way f

Pero Antic led the way for F.Y.R. of Macedonia with 19 points.

or the winning side with 19 points and six rebounds and Jeremiah Massey added 15 with six rebounds.

Tal Burstein was the leader of Israel with 25 points, Yotam Halperin added 20, ten of them in the first quarter and Lior Eliyahu finished with 12.

"It's a very important victory for us," said Coach Jovica Arsic.

"We knew if we lose today we have no chance to go on, so we gave everything we have to make it happen."

After one minute F.Y.R of Macedonia already collected three fouls, but soon after they already had three hits from downtown on the way to a 9-2 lead.

Eliyahu came in but it was Halperin who was on fire with ten points already after six minutes and after Burstein added an easy lay up the game was tied at 15-15.

Fans called in for Massey and Coach Jovica Arsic replied with the treat, but yet to had big influence on the game.

Center Amit Tamir scored the first long distance goal for Israel too make it 19-17 in favor of his team, right before the first quarter break,

Burstein had a great second quarter, on the way to 11 first half points, which he started with a catch-and-shoot three to bestow Israel a 26-23 lead.

The opponent's answer was fast and furious with seven points in a row capped with a massive alley-hoop dunk by Samardziski, to force Coach Zvi Sherf to take a time-out.

After maintaining the rebound for 15 minutes Israel's sickness reappeared as F.Y.R of Macedonia grabbed three offensive rebounds in a row to take a 34-28 lead.

Massey and Burstein exchanged three pointers, before the later added a big mid-range jumper and Halperin climbed to 14 points in the break, cutting on the gap to just a single point, 40-39.

Green had difficulties under the board against the Macedonians bigs but Eliyahu found the way to score four in a row and keep his team not too far behind.

Darko Sokolov and Riste Stefanov pushed their team to a 50-43 lead and Vrbica Stefanov had an open three to make it a ten point game, but he missed and Burstein finished the break at the other end to keep the score close.

Once again the paint was ruled by Antic and Massey who fed each other for easy baskets, grabbed offensive boards and maintained the safe lead.

Israel switched to zone and went with Burstein who nailed a huge three to keep his team in the picture, but Antic set the score on 60-55 before the teams entered the deciding quarter.

Gecevski came off the bench to make the difference. He scored from distance, added a monster block on a fast break Eliyahu and finished with a big dish for a three pointer by Vojdan Stojanoski to write the biggest lead for F.Y.R of Macedonia, 66-57 with eight minutes to play.

Ido Kozikaro scored four in a row with power moves, but left Gecevski open on the arc once again and was punished, 70-63.

It was now or never for Israel and Burstein was there to save the day. He nailed another big three, and Eliyahu finished a fast break cutting the margin to 72-70 with still a lot of time on the clock.

Gal Mekel missed a jumper and Vrbica Stefanov showed him how to make it done at the other side to set the score on 77-72 with 1:43 to play but it wasn't done yet.

Limonad, who scored seven points in the last 92 seconds, cut the margin down to one twice, but saw Sokolov march to the line with two seconds on the clock.

"When I went to the line I felt big pressure, because I knew the meaning of those shots," he confessed in the press conference following the game.

"I hope my nation will forgive me for missing one of those shots."

That shot didn't turn out to be crucial as Israel couldn't convert the last play and let the celebrations on the opponent's bench begin.

Every synonym to "war" would perfectly fit the upcoming match between Israel and the F.Y.R of Macedonia today in Group A in Poznan.

Right after the draw both teams marked in their calendar the second day of the group in their head-to-head match knowing it most probably be a winner-takes-all battle. Both sides see a win over the groups' favorites - Greece and Croatia - a bonus. The real battle is for third place and the path there goes through this game.

F.Y.R of Macedonia still search for their first ever EuroBasket win, but the closest they ever got was against Israel. Ten years ago in the exact same situation Israel edged by a single bucket to prevail and climb higher in the competition.

While the team of Jovica Arsic were out of their contest with Greece early, Israel played the second game and was in it until the buzzer. If Fatigue plays a role then Israel is in trouble.

Only six players scored for Israel yesterday and in order to avoid the fatigue Coach Zvi Sherf will need more contribution from his bench. After Yotam Halperin started the competition with five points on a terrible one out of six from the field, he'll need to step up today in the most important game of the competition for Israel.

F.Y.R of Macedonia was forced out of the paint against Greece and finished the game with only five three-pointers on 19.2% shooting. Such numbers won't be enough today, although against a much thinner front line of Israel the bigs of Arsic should have a bigger say in the game.

It's only the second day of the championship but for these two groups it's a matter of survival. In these kind of games it's not always about the level and skills, but mostly about the heart and will. Their history show we can expect a close hard-nosed battle from tip off to the finish line, and as basketball fans we can't ask for anything more.

One game. No margin for error. It's time to bring it on.

Head-to-head: The last time these two tigers met was in the Additional Qualifying Round of EuroBasket 2007, when Israel won 92-87 and jumped to the big stage, yet the first encounter is a bit more interesting. In 1999, exactly ten years ago, Israel was drawn into the same Preliminary Round group with F.Y.R of Macedonia in EuroBasket and it came down to a win-or-die game on the last day of the group. Oded Kattash scored with the buzzer to secure Israel's 64-62 win and open an unsettled account for the Skopje gang.

Last time out: Israel spent a lot of energy on the court yesterday in hope to shock Croatia but eventually lost 86-79, while F.Y.R. of Macedonia was knocked out by Greece 86-54 in a one-sided game.

Stats: Despite the paint was locked for at least one half for the players of Jovica Antic he earned 38 points of the team total of 54 by the front line. Todor Gecevski, Pero Antic, Jeremiah Massey and Predrag Samardziski were the main contributors for the team coming from Skopje. Israel as well relied on the front court as Lior Eliyahu, Ido Kozikaro and Yaniv Green collected 48 points of 79. Which back court will step up today? Which front court will re-create this success? The answers will decide the winner.

Key Match-Up: New school vs. old school.  Uprising star vs. a veteran in his last games of his career. Energy vs. experience. The match up between Israel's Gal Mekel and F.Y.R. of Macedonia's Vrbica Stefanov could be the decisive one of the day.  The 21-year-old Mekel enjoyed a great debut in EuroBasket with 16 points and three assists against the very talented Croatian back court. Stefanov had a tough time against the aggressive Greek defense to finish with only three points with one out of ten from the field. Stefanov will have to better his game if he wants his team to register their first EuroBasket win, but the talented Mekel would want to show he can produce not only good performance but also stability.

X-Factor: Jeremiah Tal Burstein is the one who makes the small things go for his team. The Israeli guard/forward has been a member of the national team for many years now, and is responsible for the last time they reached the Quarter-Finals, by hitting the winning shot in the Qualifying Round in 2003. After several years out of action due to injuries this is his stage to show he's back among the bigs. He had a good start against Croatia and wrote 10 points with three rebounds, but today is the big game, and those little things that win games - Burstein's trademark in his prime, will be needed to send Israel to the next round.

Sounding-Off: "Yesterday's game won't have any effect on us. We played bad, but that's behind us. We just need to get out there and play our game, and not let the past bother us," Jeremiah Massey talks about his team's key game today against Israel.