Hapoel Holon slipped by Hapoel Galil Elyon 80-77 as Brendan Adams and Jalen Adams starred for the purples who survived a late game comeback to notch the win. Guy Goodes’s squad saw Netanel Artzi score early on in the game while Rawle Alkins and Lior Carreira kept the game close for Guni Izraeli’s team. But Brendan Adams nailed a triple to end the first quarter which sent Holon on a roll with points a plenty by Jalen Adams and Idan Zalmanson to give the hosts a 48-31 advantage at halftime.

Michale Kyser, Jalen Adams and Brendan Adams kept scoring to keep Holon comfortably in front but Lukas Goldenberg, Alkins and Marcus Carr pulled the visitors to within 3-points with 14.3 seconds left in the game, however, Alkins hit the rim on a potential game tying triple as Goodes’s team escaped with the victory.

Jalen Adams scored 19 points, Brendan Adams added 16 points as Kyser and Zalmanson each scored 10 points in the win. Goldenberg scored 20 points, Carr put in 17 points while Alkins scored 12 points in the loss.

“We played well for three quarters and we did what we needed to and moved the ball really well,l Holon Head Coach Guy Goodes began. “But Galil came back and we had to hold on at the end of the game as we turned over the ball seven times in the last quarter. Ultimately, a win is a win and that’s what is most important for us. We all need to be positive and we all have to stay together as we head into the crucial Play In game.”

“We lost the game in the first half,” Galil Elyon Head Coach Guni Izraeli said. “It’s too bad because we let them control the rebound and run even though they were pretty tired. The second half we were able to comeback and we saw how hard we fought and battled. I hope that we can take this into our next games and we can rest up right now for a short break.”

Idan Zalmanson spoke about the win, “We won the game which is what was most importantly w replayed a good game but they did comeback in the last quarter. We have to learn from this and improve our play but all in all this was a very important win for us as we head into game two of the Play In next week.”

Lior Carreira spoke about the game, “We’re disappointed to lose and we came here in a game that we knew we could catch Holon who have been playing a lot of games. We made a big comeback and we were close to pulling it off. We have a bit of a break now and we can hold our heads high and get back to playing our best going forward.”

 

Netanel Artzi had the hot hand early for Hapoel Holon, Rawle Alkins responded for Hapoel Galil Elyon, Michale Kyser found points inside and Jalen Adams hit from the outside, Lior Carreira came back with points but a Brendan Adams triple at the buzzer gave the purples a 22-17 lead after ten minutes of play.

 

Yotam Hanochi, Dakarai Tucker and Idan Zalmanson all rattled off points to begin the second quarter, Brendan Adams dialled up for long distance, Jalen Adams scored from the inside and outside, Tucker and Jalen Adams each went from deep as Guy Goodes’s team headed into halftime with a 48-31 advantage.

Jalen Adams and Marcus Carr traded triples to get the third quarter underway, Iftach Ziv fed Kyser for a monstrous alley-oop, Brendan Adams assisted on an Iftach Ziv layup and then went from downtown himself, Lukas Goldenberg, Akia Pruitt and Carreira tried to keep Galil in the game, Ziv cruised in for a dunk as Holon still stayed in front 66-54 after thirty minutes of action.

Tomer Asayag put in a 3-point play to start off the fourth quarter, Zalmanson came back with a bucket, Brendan Adams hit a triple at the end of the shot clock, Jalen Adams scored as well but Alkins, Goldenberg and Carr cut the lead down to 3-points with 14.3 seconds remaining but that was as close as they would get as Alkins missed a last gasp 3-pointer to tie the game up as Holon took the win.