Hapoel Tel Aviv downed Hapoel Haifa 83-65 to sweep their quarterfinal series and move into the semifinals. Haifa took an early 19-17 lead after the opening ten minutes as Gur Lavie and Dakarai Tucker led the way but John Holland and Tyler Ennis caught fire for the hosts to head into halftime with a 55-36 lead. Bar Timor started to score while Holland and Ennis continued to find the basket as Marcus Bingham and Alex Hamilton tried to keep the Carmel reds in the game to no avail as Stefanos Dedas’s team moved into the semifinals where they will play Kiryat Ata.

Holland scored 20 points, Ennis added 17 points and Timor chipped in with 10 points in the win. Lavie scored 17 points while Bingham and Hamilton each scored 14 points in the loss.

“We proved that we deserved to advance,” Hapoel Tel Aviv Head Coach Stefanos Dedas began. “We led by 20 points in every game and at certain points in this game we really played well on both sides of the ball. This is the playoffs and you need to win. The atmosphere was terrific and almost everyone who played contributed, not just in this game but the entire series.”

John Holland also spoke about the victory, “Every matchup against another team is really against ourselves. We advanced to the next stage so if I play, I’ll play and if not I’ll cheer on my teammates, it’s all good. I want to be remembered as a champion.”