Israel moved ever so close to punching their ticket to the Olympic Pre-Qualifying Final Four in Poland as they downed Czechia 80-67 thanks to incredible clutch shooting by both Bar Timor and Yam Madar to move to 2-0 with one group stage game remaining against the hosts Estonia on Tuesday. Head Coach Ariel Beit Halachmi’s squad may already move into the last stage in Gliwice on Sunday should Estonia fall to North Macedonia, however, if the hosts win, the blue-and-white will also have an advantage in point differential heading into their last group game.

The blue-and-white controlled the pace of play from the get go thanks to Timor and Madar as they grabbed a 44-31 lead at halftime. Veterans Martin Kriz and Vojtech Hruban tried to keep Czechia close in the second half but once again the dynamic duo of Timor and Madar came up big to polish off the victory.

Madar scored 27 points and added 5 assists, Timor scored 22 points, grabbed 5 rebounds and dished out 4 assists while Roman Sorkin chipped in with 11 points in the win. Kriz scored 16 points and Hruban added 13 points in the loss.

“I think we played really, really well,” Beit Halachmi said. “We played a great first half and we are playing as a team and defending well. But we have to look forward now to the next game and not worry about the point differential. The guys understood the level that they would need to play and they raised it by playing an incredible defensive game.”

Bar Timor also spoke about the win, “We played great back to back games and these results will really help us going forward. We acne in very focused and many guys here are hungry to succeed. We played great defense and we will stay modest and now ready for Estonia.”

Yam Madar chimed in, “I’m very happy that we have been able to play a pair of really good games. We are in a very good spot to advance to the next stage and that is what our direction is after doing what we needed to in the opening games.”

Roman Sorkin scored from the line, Yam Madar put in points while an Iftach Ziv triple and a 3-point play from captain Bar Timor helped Israel take a 16-12 over Czechia who saw Vojtech Hruban and Ondrej Sahnal counter with 6 points a piece.

Roy Paretzky with a layup and a dunk, Madar with a triple and Timor with a pair from deep gave Ariel Beit Halachmi’s squad a 31-20 lead midway through the second quarter. Martin Kriz and Spencer John Svjcar scored for Czechia, but Ziv, Timor and a pair from downtown by Madar helped Israel head into halftime ahead 44-31.

Kriz and Hruban started to cut into the blue-and-white lead but a critical 3-pointer and deuce by Timor kept Israel in front 50-36 with five minutes left in the third quarter. Hruban again went from deep, Michal Kozak also scored but Madar and Roi Huber made sure to keep Beit Halachmi’s team in front 56-45 after thirty minutes of play.

Sorkin led off the fourth quarter with points, Kriz, Matej Svoboda and Martin Peterka all found points, Ziv put in a layup but Vit Krejci who had been quite up until this point scored to cut the lead to 63-57 with 5:54 remaining in regulation time. Timor came back with a triple and then fed Sorkin for a bucket, Yair Kravits went in for a layup but Tomas Kyzlink and Kriz scored to keep the game close, however, Madar nailed another pair from downtown to close out the 13-point victory.