Bnei Herzliya defeated Hapoel Eilat 96-93 at the HaYovel Arena on Monday night in another thriller, earning its second consecutive league victory to improve to 2-1. Eilat suffered its first loss of the season and also stands at 2-1. Yehu Orland’s Herzliya trailed 46-36 at halftime and fell behind by as many as 13 points, but the hosts fought their way back behind a spectacular performance from Zack Bryant, who took over in crunch time to lead the comeback.

Bryant finished with 36 points and eight assists against just one turnover. He also drew 11 fouls and recorded an efficiency rating of 47 in a dominant all-around performance. Nathan Knight added 26 points and 12 rebounds while Dusty Hannahs contributed 17 points. As for Oren Aharoni’s Eilat, Nuni Omot and Kendall McCollum led the way with 18 points apiece as James Dickey recorded 14 points and 13 rebounds in the defeat.

The MVP Zack Bryant summed up the win, “We played defense and that’s what won us the game. It’s not easy for me to get into the paint. I’m working on it, and the guys around me are doing a great job of getting me involved. This was one of the top two games of my career.”

Maccabi Ramat Gan edged Ironi Kiryat Ata 90-88 at the Zisman Arena on Monday night in a thrilling finish to improve to 2-1 in league play. Kiryat Ata dropped to 1-2 after suffering its second consecutive defeat. The hosts appeared to have the game under control, holding an 8-point lead with less than a minute remaining.

However, Kiryat Ata mounted a stunning comeback to tie the game as David Green knocked down a 3-pointer and Yuval Levin followed with a triple of his own to level the score. But Ahmad Caver had the final say, hitting the game-winning basket in the closing seconds to take the dramatic victory.

Caver led Elad Hasin’s Ramat Gan with 23 points, Jaylen Adams added 21 points while Bryce Washington scored 17 points in the win while Tyrece Radford scored 20 points, Levin delivered a career-high 15 points while Green scored 11 points in the loss.

Hapoel Galil Elyon defeated Maccabi Ashdod 77-66 on the road on Monday night to record its second consecutive Israeli Basketball Premier League victory and improve to 2-1. Ashdod, meanwhile, suffered its second straight loss to fall to 1-2. The Port City squad coached by Dan Katzir, opened with a 23-16 lead after the first quarter, but Galil Elyon responded with a dominant second period, outscoring the hosts 26-7 to take a 42-30 halftime advantage and run away with the win

Nate Kingz led the way for Idan Avshalom’s Galil Elyon with 22 points, while Alston Mason added 17 and Itay Moskovitz scored 13 points in the win while Isaiah Hill scored 22 points, Robert Turner added 18 points and Shawn Dawson scored 13 points in the loss.