Maccabi Tel Aviv got by Hapoel Holon 88-83 as Jimmy Clark helped the yellow-and-blue to the hard earned victory. Maccabi raced out to a 10-0 lead as Jimmy Clark and Iffe Lundberg led the way, but Xavier Munford and Darin Green Jr. helped Hapoel Holon jump in front by the end of the first quarter 22-21. Damion Rosser and Jordan McRae found points while Roman Sorkin, Jaylen Hoard along with Lundberg and Clark helped the yellow-and-blue grab a 44-38 advantage at halftime.

Hoard, Clark and Will Rayman scored for Oded Katash’s team, McRae, Rosser and Green responded to cut the Maccabi lead to just 66-65 after thirty minutes of action. TJ Leaf and Marcio Santos started to fill the basket, Munford and Netanel Artzi did the same at the other end to pull Yoav Shamir’s team to within a pair of points but a bucket by Clark closed out the game for the yellow-and-blue. Clark scored 17 points, Sorkin added 14 points while, Hoard and Lundberg each put in 13 points in the win while McRae scored 23 points, Munford chipped in with 19 points and Rosser scored 15 points in the loss.

Maccabi head coach Oded Katash spoke about the win, “Every win is important and although this wasn’t the most beautiful win, we played a game that weren’t used to and we took advantage of some of the situations that we had to take the win. I don’t take these wins for granted with the schedule we have as we are coming into this week as an underdog especially in a Greek double week.”

Holon Head Coach Yoav Shamir looked back at the loss, “This game was one that we wanted to be a part of at Hapoel Holon. We saw some good runs, nice plays and tough battles. Last game at hime we weren’t but in this one with some interesting lineups we were able to be right there. Although I don’t like to lose, it was one that I was very happy to be a part of.”

Will Rayman commented on the victory, “Basketball is a game of runs and usually when a team starts strong the other team will comeback themselves. I thought we did a good job handling the game and we were able to win. There are rotations and I’m happy to help the team win if I’m also starting.”

Damion Rosser reflected on the game that was, “I feel like we showed that we are a team that can compete at the top of the league, we had a better outcome after our last home game and we played the right way. It’s a loss and we are improving every day.”

Hapoel Jerusalem eased past Kiryat Ata 96-68 to get back onto the winning track in Israeli league play. Eldad Bentov’s team took an early 22-19 lead after the opening period but Yonatan Alon’s team came right back to take a 49-41 lead at halftime and never look back as they cruised to the victory. Carrington scored 17 points, while Cassius Winston and Jared Harper each scored 14 points in the win while Malik Hall scored 19 points and Jemaya Neal scored 15 points in the loss.

Hapoel Jerusalem Head Coach Yonatan Alon spoke about the win, “I’m happy with the performance. We played better as the game went on and I liked that. We’re constantly trying to improve and its becoming a habit, we always have to keep getting better.”

Kiryat Ata bench boss Eldad Bentov said, “It was a tough game. Right now we’re not good enough and that’s clear. Our injured players need to return to action because we have a very short rotation. In the first quarter we were there, but in the second quarter they killed us on the rebounds.”