Hapoel Galil Elyon dominated Hapoel Tel Aviv 96-73 as the Galilee squad snatched the final guaranteed postseason slot as six players notched double figures in the runaway win. Danny Franco’s team will now need to qualify via the third round of league games where they will battle for 7th or 8th place. Barak Peleg’s team controlled the boards 45-34, dished out more assists 25-13 and went 14/33 while Tel Aviv went an abysmal 1/20 from beyond the arc in the victory.

The hosts jumped all over Hapoel Tel Aviv to start off the game as Ike Iroegbu, Nimrod Levi and Isaiah Eisendorf all found points for Barak Peleg’s sqaud who took 18 first quarter rebounds to grab a 26-16 lead. DJ Kennedy, Chavaughn Lewis, Levi and Eisendorf kept filing the bucket as Owens and Bar Timor tried to keep the game within reach, however, Galil Elyon took a commanding 51-33 advantage into halftime.

The third quarter began the same way the first half ended with Galil continuing to pour in points as Bryce Washington joined the action while Kennedy and Lewis scored at will while Danny Franco’s team couldn’t find the basket from deep going 1/17 after thirty minutes as the squads headed into the final frame with the hosts ahead 75-47. Ike Iroegbu took control for Galil in the fourth quarter as he became the sixth player to record double digits in the game as Peleg’s squad rolled to the 23-point win.

Kennedy paced Galil with 18 points, Iroegbu and Lewis each scored 14 points while Nimrod Levi recorded a double double with 12 points and 10 rebounds. Idan Zalmanson scored 14 points and James Young added 13 points in the loss.

“I’m so proud to see Galil like this and those who are playing here know that,” a super excited Barak Peleg said. “We came into this game very prepared to do what we wanted to and it’s with great pride that we are in the top 6. We have players that know how to come into these types of games and we bought in DJ Kennedy that brings in a lot of experience.”

Hapoel Eilat sunk Hapoel Beer Sheva 84-76 with five players featuring in double figures while shooting 15/28 (54%) from 3-point range to take the victory. The Red Sea city squad put the metal to the pedal early as Toney Douglas scored 15 first half points to help the visitors to a 47-34 lead. Junior Etou, Cody Demps and Amir Bell tried to rally over the course of the second half but Bryon Allen, Joaquin Szuchman and Roi Huber scored for Ariel Beit Halachmi’s team to notch the 8-point win. Douglas paced Eilat with 19 points, Allen added 18 points and 9 rebounds and Szuchman recorded a double-double with 13 points and 10 boards. Etou notched 22 points, Cody Demps added 12 points and Amir Bell scored 11 points in the defeat.

Toney Douglas spoke about the important victory, “We played on both ends of the floor. Every time the opponent made a run on us, we kept our composure and we finished the game. We got the stops when they were much needed and we never gave up. Most important of all is that we played 40 minutes together.”