Hapoel Gilboa Galil got by Maccabi Rishon Le’Zion 85-79 after the hosts made a huge run in the second half but the Galilee team saw Michael Brisker, Or Cornelius and Yotam Hanochiu hit some big time shots down the stretch to take the win. Following the game Rishon fans stormed the court and went after Cornelius as punches were thrown while Gilboa fans also left the stands to defend their players in a scene that was a black mark at the end of a very good game.

Sacha Killeya-Jones and Hanochi paced Hapoel Gilboa Galil early on to take a 52-34 lead at halftime but Archie Goodwin and Anthony Brown spurred a Maccabi Rishon Le’Zion comeback to take a 67-62 lead midway through the fourth quarter. But huge baskets by Cornelius and Brisker down the stretch gave Guy Kaplan’s team the win to stay in the playoff race while Dror Cohen moved closer to the relegation zone with only three games remaining in the season.

Killeya-Jones led the way with 23 points, Hanochi added 18 points, Brisker scored 13 points and Cornelius chipped in with 11 points in the win. Anthony Brown and Archie Goodwin scored 17 points while Caleb Wesson added 13 points in the loss.

“I think there was way too much emotions whether it was a win or loss,” Kaplan said after the incident on the court following the game. “It was a close game and there was a great atmosphere, it’s just really too bad that it ended the way it did. We spoke about the big lead at the half and I knew there would be a big run but we found our way and that is what is most important.”

“I didn’t see anything,” Cohen said in reference to the incident on the floor. “The loss was disappointing and we went down by 20 points by halftime. We weren’t sharp enough and we had to win the game. We will take a day off and then begin another week of practice ahead of our next game.”

Yotam Hanochi didn’t want to talk about the extracurricular activity following the game, “I have no comment, I deal with basketball and I only want to talk about that. We hd an 18-point lead at the half and we spoke about how to deal with it, but when it came down to money time, Cornelius, Brisker and Killeya-Jones showed a ton of character.”

Hapoel Eilat squeaked out a 76-73 win over Hapoel Beer Sheva as Toney Douglas lit up the scoreboard with 27 points before fouling out in the victory. In a back and forth game that saw both sides lead over the course of the 40 minutes, Douglas and Beer Sheva’s Antonio Blakeney scored at will while Derek Pardon also found points for the hosts, but Roie Huber and Christian Doolittle were clutch as time wound down to give Ariel Beit Halachmi’s squad the win.

Douglas led the way with 27 points along with six 3-pointers, Huber added 14 points and Justin Patton chipped in with 10 points in the win. Blakeney scored 25 points, Pardon added 19 points and 13 rebounds while Amir Bell scored 13 points in the defeat.

“This game was about who wanted the most,” MVP Toney Douglas said. “The 2nd half we played great defense, kept our composure and came out with the victory.”