Maccabi Tel Aviv needed a big final frame to put away Nes Ziona 91-84 in an exciting end to end battle for the entire 40 minutes of play. The yellow-and-blue got off to a good start with with Jake Cohen, John Dibartolomeo and Lorenzo Brown leading the way but Shaq Buchanan and DJ Cooper along with Tyler Bey pulled ahead by 3-points as the contest headed to the fourth quarter. However, Roman Sorkin and Cohen controlled the paint and scored at will inside to edge the hosts.

Cohen led all scorers with 23 points and 8 rebounds, Sorkin added 12 points as Brown scored 10 points and dished out 10 assists in the win. Bey paced the hosts with 19 points, Cooper recorded a double-double with 18 points and 16 assists as Buchanan scored 18 points in the defeat.

“It wasn’t easy an easy game and Nes Ziona have to get a lot of credit for their effort,” Maccabi coach Oded Katash said. “We didn’t expect this game to be easy and while we began well, we missed a lot of open shots in the second quarter which allowed Nes Ziona to run and tie up the game. We stayed healthy after a very intense game and we all needed to find the energy which we did to win this game at the end of the day.”

“I just have only good things to say about my team as they battled hard,” Nes Ziona bench boss Elad Hasin began. “We missed some open shots, our timing was a bit off and we missed an offensive rebound near the end. You have to be focused on every possession against Maccabi if you are going to win. We looked Maccabi in the white of their eyes but against them you need to make that last great play to finish them off.”

Maccabi captain John Dibartolomeo reflected on the victory, “It was a tough game and they played very well offensively, but I am happy as to how we responded and closed out the game. I have to give a special shoutout to Jake Cohen as his performance was amazing and he picked up us up when we needed it.”

Shaq Buchanan also looked back at the game, “It came down to the wire and we knew what we had to do at the end but we didn’t get the outcome we wanted. We can’t dwell on the loss and we have to move on. Before the game we spoke about getting back to that style of play like we had earlier in the season and we brought that toughness and didn’t back down.”

Oded Katash’s squad went from deep to begin the game with Jake Cohen, John Dibartolomeo and Lorenzo Brown all finding the bottom of the basket while Shaq Buchanan and DJ Cooper responded for Nes Ziona but the yellow-and-blue grabbed an early 27-21 lead after ten minutes of play.

Darrun Hilliard and Rafi Menco dialled up long distance, Buchanan continued to score while he also fed Tyler Bey for a reverse dunk as Cooper and Ronnie Harrell sent the game into halftime all knotted up at 42-42.

Cohen and Dibartolomeo got busy to open the third quarter, but Bey and Buchanan came right back as Cooper orchestrated the offense and then drained a triple to give Elad Hasin’s team a 66-63 lead after thirty minutes of action.

Bey and Cooper kept scoring, Roman Sorkin and Jake Cohen answered with points inside, Bey and Cohen kept filling the basket for their respective teams, Cooper hit his sixth triple, Cohen came back with a pair of buckets and Nebo put down an alley-oop and a second jam to wrapup the win.

Hapoel Eilat sunk Hapoel Haifa 90-79 as Antonius Cleveland paced the visitors to their second straight win as they continue to climb the standings and away from the relegation zone.

The Red Sea squad got busy early on with baskets by Amit Gershon, Terran Petteway and Eric Griffin as the Carmel Reds countered with points from Isaiah Cousins, Shawn Jones and Gur Lavie but baskets by Antonius Cleveland gave Maurizo Buscaglia’s team a 44-34 lead at halftime. However, Cleveland kept hitting from deep and proved unstoppable as Anthony Hickey, Cousins and Jones tried to keep Sharon Drucker’s team close but it was not enough on this night as Haifa lost their 9th game in a row across all competitions.

Cleveland led all scorers with 29 points, Petteway added 16 points and Griffin scored 14 points in the win. Cousins scored 22 points, Hickey chipped in with 17 points and Will Rayman added 13 points in the loss.

“This was the best game since I arrived in Eilat,” Buscaglia said. “We were very disciplined on defense and that is what brought us the win. Everything is beginning to come together. Of course there still is a long way to go but I am optimistic going forward and we have to continue our momentum.”

“We have to see what we can do including myself,” Haifa coach Sharon Drucker said after the game. “We need character and the desire to battle. We have some tough games between now and the end of the month and I have to sit with management to see if I am the person to elad the team or someone else. I have done whatever I can. I believe that I can but it doesn’t look like it on the court.”

Hapoel Gilboa Galil recorded a big win in their battle against relegation as they defeated Bnei Herzliya 79-74 thanks to a huge final frame to snatch the win. Tony Carr, Payton Willis and Robert Franks all scored crucial baskets down the stretch to overcome superb performances by Maurice Kemp and Julian Gamble to notch the victory.

Carr scored 31 points and added 10 assists, Franks scored 15 points and Willis chipped in with 10 points in the win while Kemp paced the visitors with 23 points and Gamble scored 21 points in the loss.