Hapoel Beer Sheva downed Nes Ziona 95-88 as the visitors grabbed the lead by halftime after a rough start and stayed in front the rest to the way to record the win. The hosts came out strong with points a plenty from Desi Rodriguez and Isaiah Whitehead but Yoav Vitlem, Brandon Angel and CJ Elleby helped the southern reds to a slim 49-48 advantage at halftime. Cody Demps began to score at will to extend Beer Sheva’s lead as Spencer Weisz, Rodriguez and Kasey Shepherd tried to stay close, but Vitlem couldn’t miss down the stretch to chalk up the road victory.

Demps scored 24 points, Vitlem added 19 points and Elleby put in 18 points in the win while Rodriguez scored 31 points, Weisz chipped in with 15 points and Shepherd scored 12 points in the loss.

Rami Hadar spoke about the win, “It was a very tough game with a brutal first quarter and we were totally out of focus, but when we settled down defensively from the second quarter. We are a young team with a few veterans and guys who have great resumes but haven’t played much in Europe and we have young guys as well. But with time and practice we will be better and we will see Beer Sheva fulfilling its potential but we are not yet there.”

Amit Sherf reflected on the loss, “Se played a great first quarter and held them for some time in the third quarter but in the fourth quarter we tried to stop their run but we weren’t able to comeback and Beer Sheva led by Vitlem took the win. We have four players that are injured and we will be without some of them for a fair amount of time including CJ Cline and management will need to make a move to help the team out.”

CJ Elleby shared his thoughts on the victory, “We got the job down, grinded it out and we battled. We have to take it one game at a time and continue to build, we prepare well, coach told us, play hard and play together. So we can’t look to far ahead and we are growing and we will continue to come together as a team.”

Desi Rodriguez discussed the game that was, “It was a tough one, two team that were very competitive and wanted to prove themselves, we came out with energy but had some ups and downs throughout the game and let them into the game and they took the lead. Overall we have to be better and we need to prove that we are a good team, collectively better defensively and sharper on offense.”

Spencer Weisz and Isaiah Whitehead went from deep while Desi Rodriguez also scored for Nes Ziona as Yoav Vitlem and Brandon Angel responded for Hapoel Beer Sheva, Robert Foster at one end and Kasey Shepherd at the other both dialed up from long distance but Rodriguez continued to fill the basket and Itay Moskovitz went from downtown to give the hosts a 29-19 lead.

With Taryn Todd manning the point, Angel and CJ Elleby cut into the lead, Weisz and Rodriguez tried to keep Amit Sherf’s team in front but Elleby scored from the inside and outside to give Rami Hadar’s squad the lead but a 3-point play by Rodriguez to close out the half pulled Nes Ziona to within 49-48.

Rodriguez opened the third quarter with a pair of baskets, Cody Demps began to fill the hoop but so did Whitehead as end to end action ensued however, Demps from the outside and inside to give Beer Sheva a 68-59 lead after thirty minutes of action.

Shepherd led off the final frame with a corner 3-ball while Whitehead added a triple of his own, Elleby and Demps scored but so did Rodriguez while Weisz went from downtown, Sam Iorio countered from deep and Neta Segal scored as well, but a pair of triples by Vitlem and a layup closed out the victory for Beer Sheva.