The #15 Fuchs Mizrahi Mayhem defeated the #12 MTA Lions 54-51 on Championship Monday to win the Tier III championship in an exhilarating fashion.
Albert Waxman hit a long-range 3-pointer at the buzzer to lift the Mayhem over the Lions in a back-and-forth game. Waxman, who finished with 29 points, including going 7-13 from deep, carried his team to a historic win for Fuchs Mizrachi. With 1:08 remaining, Waxman hit a contested 3-pointer to tie the game at 51, setting up his team for the eventual victory.
In the first quarter, both teams came out with hot hands. The Lions pulled ahead 19-15, but in the second quarter they were held to only 5 points by the Mayhem’s stifling defensive pressure. In the half, both teams made a combined nine 3-pointers and Fuchs went into the break leading 26-24.
In the third quarter, Fuchs Mizrachi’s Ilan Senders decided he wasn’t going to let Waxman take over this game alone. He produced 12 points on an incredible 86% shooting, impacting the game both on the defensive side and on the drive. Although Senders lacked a few inches against MTA’s big men, he explained in his postgame interview that he made up for it with “heart and strength.”
Yehuda Buchbinder led the way for the Lions with 15 points, including three 3-pointers. Binyamin Buchbinder and Eli Gruenberg added 9 points apiece as well. The Lions came into this one looking to go even in the tournament after losing to YULA and ICJA while beating Montreal. However, this tough loss by Coach Shlomo Weissberg’s MTA squad caused them to fall to 1-3 overall in the tournament, enough to capture second place in Tier-III.
On the other hand, Waxman, who believed his team was “under-ranked, undervalued, and overlooked” at Sarachek, was thrilled that they were able to complete their run with a statement win. He praised Coach Osbourne Gardner, a former marine, for increasing his team’s work ethic and bringing them together. Fuchs managed to finish the tournament with a 3-1 record. Their only loss was a one-point defeat at the hands of the Cooper Macs in overtime in a Tier II Qualifier.
By Mendel Osdoba Macslive
