Hapoel Holon defeated Hapoel Afula 82-74 as newcomer Brendan Adams starred for the Purples with 16 points in his debut to help Guy Goodes’s squad to the win at the Holon Toto Arena. The hosts used an 8-man rotation as Adams, who signed with the club last week taking center stage especially without the injured Jalen Adams (no relation) while Idan Zalmanson returned to action after missing last week’s Champions League win.

Iftach Ziv opened the game up with a pair of baskets to set the tone early while Elijah Mitrou Long also spurred the Holon attack to jump out to a 21-14 lead after ten minutes of action. Adams then got into the mix with a trip of triples to pull ahead by double digits as JP Tokoto and Jalen Leque tried top keep the visitors close but more points from Ziv sent the purples into halftime with a 47-35 advantage.

The duo of Tokoto and Leque kept scoring, but Dakarai Tucker responded while Mitrou-Long and Yotam Hanochi kept Holon in front 66-53 after thirty minutes of action. J’Covan Brown and Leque again mounted a mini comeback but Mitrou-Long and Adams put the finishing touches on the victory.

Adams led the way with 16 points, Mitrou-Long added 14 points and Ziv scored 13 points in the win. Tokoto put in 19 points while Brown and Leque each scored 15 points in the loss.

The morning after the victory, Holon signed guard Mike Davis Jr. who started the season with Wurzburg. The Francis Marion University and Queens product has played in Turkey, Greece, Poland, Ukraine and Georgia prior to this season in Germany.

“We are happy to have Mike join the team,” Head Coach Guy Goodes said. “Mike, who played in the BCL for Würzburg, was released after the game against us. We decided together with the management that we needed another guard who is strong and knows how to score points, so that we can play with four guards at a time like we started the season. The amount of games is only increasing and in the next two months there are many important ones that we want to arrive ready and with depth. I would like to take this opportunity to give a good word to management who are helping us along with the professional staff who are helping us strengthen the squad.”