Hapoel Tel Aviv got by a game Hapoel Beer Sheva 98-88 thanks to a magnificent fourth quarter by Bruno Caboclo in what turned into a tight contest in the southern capital. Stefanos Dedas’s team jumped out to an early lead thanks to Marcus Foster and Patrick Beverley but Iverson Molinar, Ron Zipper and Ray Spalding pulled to within 3-points, 47-44 at halftime. Oren Aharoni’s team kept the game close as Spencer Weisz did the damage but Caboclo scored at will in the fourth quarter to help Hapoel Tel Aviv to the victory.

Caboclo scored 20 points, Beverley added 15 points and Foster scored 13 points in the win while Molinar, Zipper and Spalding all scored 21 points in the loss.

Marcus Foster and Johnathan Motley got busy early for Hapoel Tel Aviv while Ron Zipper ad Ray Spalding countered for Hapoel Beer Sheva but points from Noam Yaacov gave Stefanos Dedas’s team a 28-21 lead after ten minutes of play. Ido Flaisher and Iverson Molinar found points for the hosts to pull even midway through the second quarter but Patrick Beverley made sure to send Hapoel Tel Aviv into halftime with a 47-44 advantage.

Beverley continued to score, Molinar, Spalding and Spencer Weisz countered but points by Bar Timor kept Tel Aviv ahead 67-65 after thirty minutes of action. Bruno Caboclo started to score for the visitors in bunches, Ron Zipper responded and so did Spalding but Caboclo was unstoppable in the final frame as Hapoel Tel Aviv escaped with the win.

“Beer Sheva played a very good game,” Hapoel Tel Aviv Stefanos Dedas began. “We didn’t play very good defense and they gave the game of their lives as their American players wanted to put in a very good performance. But we won and we are in first place in the Israeli league and soon we will be first in Europe, everything is fine. When things were difficult for us during the game, I had to play Bruno Caboclo with the pick and pop with the 5 man and because of that we won the game.”

Kiryat Ata downed Hapoel Haifa 100-86 in a game that they controlled from the get go jumping out to a 30-13 lead after the first quarter with Chavaughn Lewis pacing the attack and never looked back. Lewis was a one-man wrecking crew over the course of the first half along with Chris Smith and Silvio Sousa as Hapoel Haifa’s Tyler Bey tried to keep the game close but Kiryat Ata opened up a 55-38 lead at halftime. Bey and Amit Gershon started cutting into the lead, but Raz Adam, De Sousa and Lewis closed out the road victory. Lewis scored 31 points, De Sousa added 21 points and Smith scored 16 points in the win while Bey scored 29 points and Gershon chipped in with 16 points in the loss.

Hapoel Galil Elyon cruised past Hapoel Afula 88-77 in a game that the Galilee side were in control of from the get go thanks to stellar play from Lennard Freeman with 24 points and Marcus Carr who scored 19 points in the win. Justyn Mutts dropped 19 points for Afula in the defeat.