Hapoel Afula downed Hapoel Tel Aviv 84-78 as Justin Briggs and Tomer Asayag along with Lucas Goldenberg came up big in the second half to wipeout a 10-point halftime deficit to record the victory. Briggs scored 20 points, Goldenberg added 15 points and Assayag scored 11 points in the win, while Tomer Ginat scored 22 points and Idan Zalmanson chipped in with 15 points in the loss.

“The guys here work really hard, we stay very positive, we don’t mourn losses and we don’t celebrate victories excessively,” Afula coach Roie Perel said. “Hats off to the players, what they did in the second half was heroic. I am happy to come to practice every day and work with the squad but what is needed is victories. First of all, we don’t want to be relegated and next game we have Kiryat Ata.”

“There have been some difficult days with many upheavals especially in the country,” Tel Aviv interim coach Barak Lederer said before handing the team over to coach Stefanos Dedas. “In the second half it was difficult, they raised the level of intensity. This is a big club and we brought in an excellent coach, we are still in second place and we will still have something to say this season.”