Hapoel Jerusalem took care of Maccabi Rishon Le’Zion 87-74 as the Capital City squad led by Jared Harper, Nimrod Levi and Justin Smith, went on a 16-0 run to end the game and close out the win. Levi scored 20 points while Harper and Khadeen Carrington each scored 14 points in the win as JJ Kaplan scored 13 points while Gabe Devo and Amin Stevens each put in 12 points a piece in the loss.

Jerusalem Head Coach Yonatan Alon said after the game, “I didn’t feel we were cruising to victory. We made the right plays in the first half, but at the start of the third quarter the game got stuck, nothing moved, there was no flow. We missed several shots that hurt our confidence and especially our energy. Our body language wasn’t good. We talked about it a bit and I’m happy the guys took over in the fourth quarter, especially in the final minutes and did what was needed to win, mainly defensively.”

Rishon bench boss Guy Kaplan summed up the defeat, “First of all, I’m not satisfied because we lost and nobody likes losing in this business. We put up a fight in the third quarter and in the first part of the fourth quarter. In the first half we didn’t play well, but we brought out our DNA in the second half. In the latter part of the final quarter we ran out of steam a little and there was also a slight lack of coordination with the new players.”

Up in the Galilee, Hapoel Tel Aviv defeated Hapoel HaEmek 79-75 as the reds mounted a late game comeback thanks to fine play by Johnathan Motley, Levi Randolph and Guy Palatin whose huge 3-pointer led a late 6-0 run to close out the victory. Motley scored 26 points, Randolph added 14 points and Bar Timor scored 12 points in the win while Brandon Johnson scored 19 points, Kyler Edwards put in 15 points and Nick Ogenda scored 12 points in the loss.

“This win shouldn’t be taken for granted,” summarized Hapoel Tel Aviv Head Coach Dimitros Itoudis. “We didn’t have a single practice together. We were rusty at the beginning. We didn’t use our fouls, we gave away easy points. In the third quarter we weren’t good defensively. But in the end we stepped up on defense. We clarified what our goals were. Motley was excellent. The team needs time to adapt to the league. We deserved to win, especially after the run at the end of the second quarter.”

HaEmek Head Coach Sharon Avrahami spoke about the defeat, “A huge missed opportunity for us. Poor decisions, key players fouled out with five fouls. This was a game we should have won. In close games this season we’ve usually been on the positive side. Lately we’ve been losing advantages and we need to see why that’s happening. Hapoel Tel Aviv is a team with a lot of weapons. They made things very difficult for us. We lost the game because of decision-making in the final minutes.”

At Kfar Blum, Hapoel Holon walloped Hapoel Galil Elyon 103-76 in a game that saw the purples go out to a 35-16 lead after the opening period as they cruised to the victory. Jordan Wright led the way with 30 points, Lior Carreira added 15 points and Adama Sanogo put in 12 points in the win while Shachar Amir scored 17 points and Raz Adam out in 16 points in the loss.

Elsewhere, Ironi Nes Ziona crusied past Hapoel Beer Sheva Dimona 105-68 as Bryce Brown paced Head Coach Paul Corsaro’s team to their third straight league victory and suddenly a playoff berth appears within reach for the orange. Brown scored 28 points, Desi Rodriguez added 17 points and Spencer Weisz put in 15 points in the win as L.J. Figueroa scored 16 points while Marquis Barnett and Damian Dunn scored 13 points each in the loss.