Hapoel Holon downed Bnei Herzliya 86-78 as the purples led by Iftach Ziv and Mike Davis stole home court advantage by taking the game one victory. Mike Davis, Michale Kyser and Iftach Ziv helped Holon overcome a double digit performance by Elijah Stewart early on to take a 43-32 lead at halftime, John Meeks and Chinanu Onuaku helped shave the advantage down but Justin Alston, Davis and Ziv came up clutch in the final frame as Dakarai Tucker’s dagger 3-pointer put away the win.

Davis scored 22 points while Ziv and Kyser each added 15 points in the victory. Stewart scored 24 points, Meeks put in 19 points and Onuaku scoedd 13 points in the loss.

“This was a playoff game against a very tough team,” Hapoel Holon Head Coach Guy Kaplan began. “We knew it was going to be a really tough challenge, we turned over the ball a bit too much and Herzliya made a comeback but we were able to make the right plays down the stretch to win the game.”

“This is the playoffs and we have to go and win on Thursday to bring back the home court advantage, we will be ready on Thursday and what was doesn’t interest me. We have to be super focussed,” Herzliya Head Coach Yehu Orland said.

Mike Davis talked about the keys to the game, “You have to be physical when the ref isn’t looking and take advantage of what you can in a playoff game. We were down after that Netanya loss and we knew we would play Herzliya regardless. Losing the home court matters a bit and we fought in this game to regain it. Ultimately this was a game of runs and we started the third quarter well but we had to counter that with our run at the end of the game. All in all it was a good game and I’m happy we came out on top.”

Frederic Bourdillon spoke about the defeat, “The first half was on us and we didn’t play, we were soft and we started to play in the second half. I don’t want to come plain about there’s but I feel that the didn’t respect Herzliya. We have to step onto the court and be way more aggressive and we began the game like the regular season. We have two games now to take back home court advantage and the game has to begin twenty minutes before the game and not.”

Shachar Amir opened the game with a layup for Hapoel Holon, Elijah Stewart went from deep for Bnei Herzliya, Mike Davis hit a pair of jumpers for the purples while John Meeks and Chinanu Onuaku scored for the hosts, Michale Kyser put in a trio of buckets and Iftach Ziv went from the inside and outside to give Guy Kaplan’s team a 21-16 lead after ten minutes of play.

Ziv led off the second quarter with a clean jumper, Stewart went from downtown, Kyser and Onuaku traded baskets, Josh Hawley and Justin Alston did the same, Davis hit a floater and added a layup, Netanel Artzi a pair of baskets and Ziv put in two layups to end the half as Holon took a 43-32 advantage into the locker rooms.

DJ Cooper went in for an uncontested layup, Stewart nailed a 3-pointer, Davis and Meeks traded triples, Alston went from deep, Markel Johnson put in a 3-point play, Frederic Bourdillon added a 4-point play, Cooper scored at one end and Meeks at the other while Johnson and Kyser did the same but a last second bucket by Davis kept Holon in front 62-55 after thirty minutes of action.

Alston began the fourth quarter with points, Onuaku and Stewart responded, Cooper and Kyser both scored, Bourdillon went for a pair from deep, Alston put in two buckets, Davis went dialled up from long distance, Meeks did the same, Ziv put home a layup high off the glass, Tucker rain-bowed in a 3-pointer to close out the win.