Hapoel Eilat sunk Hapoel Jerusalem 82-77 down by the Red Sea city as the Reds troubles continued in league play after having been knocked out of the State Cup and Champions League action over the past few weeks. Ariel Beit Halachmi’s squad grabbed a 45-41 lead at halftime thanks to fine play by Byron Allen and Toney Douglas but Yotam Halperin’s crew were able to grab the advantage after the thirty minutes through Retin Obasohan and Amit Gershon. However, Noam Avivi, Justin Patton and Joaquin Szuchman spurred Eilat to a 14-0 run in the final frame to take the 5-point victory.

Allen led the way with 22 points, Douglas added 19 points, Szuchman chipped in with 15 points and Patton scored 10 points and grabbed 9 rebounds in the win. Obasohan paced Jerusalem with 17 points and Su Braimoh scored 11 points in the loss.

“I’m very disappointed that we lost,” Halperin explained. “We had a good third quarter it it wasn’t enough as we ended up losing due to a lack of aggressiveness in the fourth. We have to keep our heads up and confined on, there’s a long league in front of us.”

Hapoel Haifa squeaked by Hapoel Galil Elyon 72-70 as the Carmel Reds wiped out a late 8-point 69-61 deficit to take the win. But huge baskets by James Dickey, Scottie James and a 3-pointer by the unlikely source Egor Nestrenko to go along with Kadeem Allen’s free throws brought Elad Hasin’s team all the way back to take the win. Allen led the way with 16 points, Gregory Vargas added 12 points and Will Rayman chipped in with 11 points in the win. Bryce Washington scored 14 points, Chabvaughn Lewis added 12 points and Omer Tal scored 11 points in the loss.