Hapoel Eilat sunk Bnei Herzliya 99-86 as the Red Sea squad ended their home slate with a win in fine fashion. Maurizio Buscaglia’s squad grabbed the lead by halftime and never looked back as the Israeli contingent scored 49 of the 99 points in the win.

Antonius Cleveland scored 21 points, Amit Gershon added 17 points and Mangok Matjiang chipped in with 15 points and 11 rebounds in the win. Maurice Keep scored 28 points and Oded Brandwein put in15 points in the loss.

“We had a good feeling in the lockerroom to win our last game at home,” Buscaglia said. “We scored, grabbed rebounds and we wanted to win at home in this last game. Eilat deserves the league and the league deserves Eilat.”

“They controlled the rebounds and the offensive boards plus we turned over the ball which really hurt us and led to this result,” Herzliya coach Oren Aharoni said. “I expect my players to be more focussed despite not having Quinton Hooker listed. We want to do as well as we can with the team we have.”

Amit Gershon spoke about the win, “We enjoyed the game and we had a crazy season, but the guys that came in did a great job. I have been feeling good lately and I am very happy that we were able to stay in the league which was a key thanks to the players they brought in to help out.”