Israel downed Greece 81-70 to move their record to 4-0 in the U18 FIBA Challenger Tournament in Tel Aviv and take first place in the group. The Blue & White got off to a hot start but Greece took a 2-point lead into the second half. However, once again Ron Zipper led the way along with help from Avner Dror to help Israel to the victory.

Zipper ended the game with 22 points (4/8 from 3), Dror added 16 points and 8 rebounds while Ido Menchel chipped in with 10 points in the win. Anthanasios Bazinas & Apostolos Roumoglou each scored 11 points in the loss.

“I’m happy for the team as we worked hard for the past two months and it’s all coming together,” Zipper explained after the win. “I’m not used to the attention but it’s great. I don’t know where I will be but qe still have another game and then we will celebrate. Up until now this is the top of my career but I want more.”

Coach Oren Aharoni spoke about the victory as well as Zipper’s tournament performance, “I’m proud of the guys and they gave matured over the tournament. We started well but Greece’s defense played well and we had to adjust. I didn’t believe that we would be abet o accomplish what we have thus far before the competition.

“Zipper has to stay humble and keep himself grounded. Greece went after him throughout the game but he was able to overcome that challenge.”

Avner Dror also talked about the win and his short term goals, “I’m happy another win, but tomorrow is a new day. It’s a great experience for every player and I want to get as far as I can. Right now my goal is to play with a first division club.”

Israel’s big men got to work early on as Anton Agayev and Avner Dror provided scoring inside to give Oren Aharoni’s squad a 23-13 lead after ten minutes of play.

Ido Menchel caught fire on the second quarter but Greece came all the way back on solid play by Athanasios Bazinas, Ioannis Efstathiadis, Evangelos Zougris and Apostolos Roumoglou to snatch the lead right at the halftime buzzer 39-37.

Ron Zipper, Yoav Berman and Niv Lempert paced Israel in the 3rd quarter as they held Greece to only 11 points and Zipper hit a half-court heave at the end of the period to take a 55-50 advantage after 30 minutes of action.

Zipper continued to fill the basket while Dror found points inside as Israel ran away with the 11-point win.