Hapoel Beer Sheva stunned Maccabi Tel Aviv 74-71 down in the southern capital as the Reds used their physicality to push the visitors around in order to take the well deserved win. The yellow-and-blue took an early lead as Angelo Caloiaro led the way to a 34-20 lead midway through the second quarter, but Junior Etou helped Christoforos Livadiotis’s squad raced off to a 17-2 run to end the first half in front 37-36.

Dererk Pardon and Cody Demps along with the active Etou continued to pace the hosts over the third quarter while Keenan Evans and John Dibartolomeo countered for Maccabi but Beer Sheva bumped up their lead to 57-54 after thirty minutes of action. Netta Segal hit his shots in the final frame while Etou continued to fill the basket as James Nunnally and Dibartolomeo missed a potential game tying 3-pointers as time expired to hand Beer Sheva the victory.

Etou led the way with 24 points, Pardon added 11 points and 15 rebounds while Demps scored 19 points in the win. Evans scored 16 points, Caloiaro added 15 points and Dibartolomeo scored 14 points in the defeat.

“Sometimes the statsheet doesn’t tell the story of the game but the stats do in this case as we had 45 rebounds to Maccabi’s 29,” Livadiotis said. “This shows the desire and energy that we wanted to get to any loose ball. We had 18 assists and we kept Maccabi on 9 which showed that we were very organized on defense and we didn’t let them move the ball. We moved the ball really well and had the most spot up shots than in any other game. This is the picture of the game.”

“We gave ourself a chance and I want to thank my teammates for getting me the ball,” an elated Junior Etou said. “This game was all about teamwork. We focussed, executed and won the game by staying in the moment and taking it one possession at a time.”

“We had to finish the game off when we had the chance and a big lead and we couldn’t,” Even said following his team’s devastating loss. “We weren’t focussed enough in the second half against a team who plays tough at home. In this league when you play on the road you can take your foot off of the gas.”

Hapoel Holon defeated Maccabi Rishon Le’Zion 78-62 as Joe Ragland paced Guy Goodes’s squad to the 16-point victory ahead of their Champions League clash in Germany against Ludwigsburg in Champions League Round of 16 group stage play. Ragland scored 18 points, added 7 rebounds and dished out 8 assists, Rafi Menco had 12 points while Chris Johnson and Tyrus McGee each had 10 points in the win. Tu Holloway paced Rishon with 17 points and Anthony Brown chipped in with 15 points in the loss.

“We wanted to win this game for the coach on his birthday,” Ragland said following the win. “I played with what they gave me and I looked to get the ball to my teammates as I tried to help the team to the win. It doesn’t matter as to how many teams try to shut me down but that is my job to battle for the victory.”