Hapoel HaEmek defeated Maccabi Raanana 90-79 as Kyler Edwards proved to be unstoppable as he dropped 30 points in the victory. Edwards owned the first half hitting five 3-pointers to help Hapoel HaEmek to a 56-40 lead at halftime. Cameron Henry and Niv Misgav picked up the pace for the hosts while Joaquin Szuchman and Yotam Hanochi countered for Maccabi Raanana but Edwards had the hot hand all game long as he continued to knock down his outside shot to sew up the win. Along with Edwards, Henry scored 15 points and Misgav recorded a double-double with 13 points and 11 assists in the victory while Hanochi scored 17 points and Szuchman put in 16 points in the loss.

“No question to have 5 wins in a row is great and that is quite an accomplishment for a new team like ours,” Hapoel HaEmek Head Coach Sharon Avrahami said. “We kept building up the lead but Raanana continued to come back but we had the wherewithal to withstand their run. But we knew that they are a team that was going to battle and we were able to take the win.”

“We didn’t start of well on the defensive end,” Maccabi Raanana Head Coach Shai Segolovich said. “It’s the second game in a row we gave up 30 points in the first quarter. We need to know how to begin games better than this as our confidence is shot after such a start and the opposition felt very good and went from there.”