Yala! Yala! "("Go on, go on!"), cried an Israeli from behind the makeshift press box designed to handle the overflow of media reps who came to this unusual contest in New York City.

With more than 18,000 in attendance at Madison Square Garden, one would think it was the return of the New York Knicks to the post-season. Instead it was a preseason exhibition game between the hometown favorites and Maccabi Elite Tel Aviv, Israel's top team.

And there was no doubt for whom the majority were rooting. Israeli flags and banners mixed with yellow Maccabi T-shirts dotted the stands at the Oct. 10 show. "Thunderstick" noisemakers, courtesy of El Al Airlines, added to the din. Veteran Knicks broadcaster Al Trautwig said, "It's a bit of a zoo tonight."

Maccabi Elite is the New York Yankees of Israel: The club has won 47 Israeli championships, 36 National Cups, and five European Cups.

Four members of Tel Aviv have American roots. Team captain Derrick Sharp went to Israel to play basketball straight out of the University of Southern Florida in 1994 and joined Maccabi Elite in 1996. He became an Israeli citizen in 2005 and sees himself as an unofficial ambassador for his new home.

"The situation in Israel is not what you see on CNN and FOX," Sharp told NJ Jewish News. "You really have to go there to take it all in to understand what it's all about…. They make it seem like it's a war zone, and it's not."

Rookie Marcus Fizer agreed. "It's nowhere near what people think about the whole area," he said.

Fizer — who spent five-plus seasons in the NBA with the Chicago Bulls, Milwaukee Bucks, and New Orleans Hornets — said he didn't let what he had heard in the media about the Middle East influence his decision to go there. "What kind of worries would I have? It's the Holy Land. Whatever is going to happen is going to happen."

One thing he didn't expect: the love the country has for the Tel Aviv team. "It's phenomenal. The dynamic of it all is too much to fathom, from the fans in the airport to the media."

Asked if he took any hazing from his teammates, the norm for first-year players, the six-foot, eight-inch, 260-pound Fizer smiled and said, "Nah, dude. Look how big I am. You think any one is going to [mess] with me? None of that, none of that."

Will Bynum, a second-year player from Chicago, and Vonteego Cummings, a rookie from Thomson, Ga., round out the American contingent.

The game had a deeper purpose than just an exhibition between two high-level teams. A portion of the proceeds went to support Migdal Ohr, an organization that benefits more than 6,000 orphaned, abused, and disadvantaged children in Israel.

During halftime, Rabbi Yitzchak Dovid Grossman, who founded Migdal Ohr in 1972, took center court, praising the athletes and the fans and leading the crowd in a boisterous chanting of the Sh'ma and a chorus of "Am Yisrael Chai" to a thunderous ovation.

The halftime program also featured a tribute to the late Knicks coach Red Holzman. In deference to the crowd demographic, OU-certified kosher food was available at the concessions stands and the Knicks City Dancers were given the night off.

Grossman was as much in demand as any of the players. People sought his autograph and asked to have their picture taken with him. "I think it's beautiful to see so many people come together with unity [and] feeling for Israel, for children," he told NJJN after addressing the Garden crowd. Combining the game with the spirituality of helping those less fortunate "was the nicest thing that could be," he said.

If the game could have been decided by acclimation — made even louder by a quick 15-5 run after the opening tip-off — Tel Aviv would have won, hands down. Unfortunately, they could not take advantage of all that positive energy and lost 112-85, their second-worst beating by an NBA team to date. Although they had never faced the Knicks before, Tel Aviv played 17 previous exhibition contests against NBA teams, beginning with a 98-87 win over the Washington Wizards (ne Baltimore Bullets) in 1978. Their record now stands at 5-18.