Hapoel Tel Aviv blasted Hapoel Holon 114-60 as the Reds came out flying and was a team on a mission as seven players scored in double digits to sew up the blowout victory. Hapoel were on fire from the get go as Johnathan Motley, Yam Madar, Tai Odiase and Antonio Blakeney scored with ease to grab a 62-27 lead at halftime while purples coach Danny Franco was ejected after the opening twenty minutes.

Tomer Ginat, Guy Palatin, Bar Timor and Tyler Ennis kept up the scoring pace for the Reds in the second half to increase the lead up to 50 plus points as Dimitrios Itoudis’s team ran away with the blowout victory. Ennis scored 16 points while Palatin and Madar each scored 13 points in the win as Jordan McRae scored 12 points in the loss.

Hapoel Tel Aviv Head Coach Dimitrios Itoudis talked about the win, “We really played serious basketball and we respect the opponents. We were the better team on the court from the beginning to the end and we set teh tempo on both sides of the court and we hit our shots while we set the tone and defended their best players.”

Hapoel Holon Assistant Coach Yoav Shamir spoke about the loss, “There is not much to say about such a loss, we all feel the disappointment and the pain from this loss. we have a lot of goals but right now there is not much to say. This club needs to be in certain place and when you lose, you can’t lose like this. As a professional you have to come to work and you can’t go backwards, you need to go forwards and we didn’t show up here in this game.”

Antonio Blakeney reflected on the win, “We all trust each other and take it all serious. O didn’t think it was this easy, but we took it seriously and we have to play it again and it won’t be easy next time. Coach is a serious guy and he knows what it takes to be a champion. I love it here and I want to be here.”

Hapoel Jerusalem slipped by Maccabi Raanana 102-99 as Jared Harper’s points down the stretch helped the Reds hang on to take the win. Yonatan Alon’s team was in cruise control from the get go as Justin Smith, Khadeen Carrington and Nimrod Levi propelled the hosts to a 57-42 advantage as halftime. However, Willy Workman, Nate Laszewski, Tyrece Radford and Daylen Kountz kept Shai Segalovic’s team hanging around leading Joe Ragland to cut down the lead to just a pair of points late in the game, but Harper made sure to put in a key layup to close out the victory.

Harper scored 21 points while Carrington and Smith each scored 17 points in the win. Radford scored 19 points as Laszewski and Workman each put in 17 points in the loss.

Yonatan Alon discussed the win, “I didn’t like the second half I have some things in mind as to why this is the case that we can’t hold onto a large lead but I will keep it to myself. We have players other than Jared Harper who can take the ball and win the game like Carrington and Cassius Winston. But the effort we had here is not good enough against the upcoming teams like Manresa, Hapoel Tel Aviv and Maccabi Tel Aviv.”

Shai Segalovic spoke about the defeat, “We want to win and there’s not a lot of chances to beat the big teams, especially at home. We felt it was there and we thought things were going our way, but we needed one more stop to make the difference. We played well in the second half and Joe Ragland has been getting into the swing of things. Derek Cooke is a player that will be able to play well off of Joe as well and we looked for a someone with his qualities for quite some time.”

Khadeen Carrington, “We are learning and when we have teams in that position we have to finish them off. We’ve had so many games where we were up 15-20 points and we couldn’t finish. But we are learning each other and we will get it. It’s not enough to beat Manresa, Hapoel Tel Aviv and Maccabi Tel Aviv but we are a pretty good team too.”

Joe Ragland looked back at the loss, “We fought hard and they are a great team and have guys like Harper and Dino who have made a shot or two. There’s nothing more that we could do. My team lost the game but there are a lot of positives that we can take. I’m trying to find my footing and last season I had an injury and it took me time to get over that. Raanana is a good place for me with the coach’s style and the aggression while Derek Cooke will be a good addition who lots of experience.”

Justin Smith, Nimrod Levi and Khadeen Carrington scored early on for Hapoel Jerusalem while Chen Guy and Tyrece Radford answered for Maccabi Raanana, but points from the outside by Roi Huber and on the inside from Jared Harper gave the reds a 31-16 lead after ten minutes of play. Willy Workman and Carrington traded baskets, Guy continued to find the bottom of the basket, but buckets from Josiah Jordan James, Cassius Winston, Smith and Isiah Mobley sent Yonatan Alon’s team into halftime with a 57-42 advantage.

Levi and Cassius Winston scored for Jerusalem Nate Laszewski and Daylen Kountz countered for Raanana, while Radford, Workman and Joe Ragland cut the lead to single digits to give Shai Segalovic’s squad a chance heading into the final frame down 82-73. Harper went from the inside and outside, Kountz, Laszewski and Ragland closed the gap to just 2-points but that’s as close as they would get as Jerusalem hung on to take the win.