Hapoel Tel Aviv crushed Hapoel Afula 99-74 as Guy Palatin helped break the game open near the end of the second quarter and kept scoring with ease into the third quarter to take the easy win. J’Covan Brown and Jalen Leque came out scoring for Hapoel Afula but Joe Ragland ran the Hapoel Tel Aviv offense to perfection as Marcus Foster, Ish Wainright and Noam Yaacov scored as well but key points on the inside and outside from Guy Palatin gave the reds a 52-40 lead at halftime. Palatin continued to score at will as did Foster in the second half and despite a valiant try by Afula, Dimitrios Itoudis’s squad cruised to the 25-point victory.

Palatin and Foster scored 19 points a piece, Yaacov added 13 points and Ragland scored 11 points and dished out 7 assists in the win. Leque and Brown each scored 15 points in the loss.

“I looked the professionalism and we played serious,” Itoudis said. “In the second quarter we picked up a double digit lead and had players coming off of the bench like Oz Blayzer and we brought it to the end very smart. Guy knows that he brings energy, can shoot the ball pretty good and spread the floor. He’s a team player, unselfish, can rebound and has a good feeling for the game.”

The game MVP Guy Palatin reflected on the win, “The loss in the Cup wasn’t easy so we all wanted to get back to our regular play and that’s what we did in this game and we came back even stronger. We all have our roles on this team and I have mine as well which is to bring energy as I have done in every league that I have played in, that’s what I try to always do.”

Kiryat Ata got by Hapoel Haifa 89-84 in overtime as Silvio De Sousa’s monster 31 point and 10 rebound game helped the hosts to the win. De Sousa, Chris Smith and Liam O’Reilly found points for Kiryat Ata while Bryon Allen and Matt Coleman paced Hapoel Haifa but the hosts led 37-36 at halftime.

De Sousa, Chris Smith and Marvin Smith opened up a gap as Eldad Bentov’s team looked to be heading towards the win but Allen and Coleman kept the Carmel reds close and Daniel Rosenbaum scored as time wound dow to send the game into overtime all knotted up at 72-72. In the overtime, De Sousa continued to pour in the points as Kiryat Ata took the 5-point win.

In addition to De Sousa’s 31 points, Chris Smith added 21 points and Marvin Smith scored 11 points in the win. Coleman scored 24 points, Allen put in 17 points and Rosenbaum scored 10 points in the loss.

“This was a very big win for us and every one is crucial for us,” Bentov said. “We wanted to win the game in regulation time but we just weren’t focussed enough. The guys battled and while they made some mistakes they did everything to win the game as well as on the defensive side.”

“It’s disappointing,” Haifa Head Coach Roi Perel said. “I thought and believed that we could win. “The game went down to the little things but that is basketball. We are just unable to put the ball in the basket in the critical moments which is also mental. The guys did the best that they could.”

Hapoel Beer Sheva walloped Maccabi Ramat Gan 104-84 as the southern reds broke a 24-24 game open in the second quarter thanks to sharp shooting by Ron Zipper who went 5/5 from beyond the arc to cruise to the win. Ron Zipper scored 23 points, Cody Demps added 21 points, Iverson Molinar put in 19 points and dished out 9 assist while Justin McKoy scored 17 points in the victory. Kendale McCullum scored 21 points, Amin Stevens put in 15 points and Isaiah Miles scored 13 points in the loss.

Beer Sheva Head Coach Rami Hadar spoke about the win, “I like the pace that we are showing and I see this in practice as well as how we read plays and play with intensity. This is the most talented team that I have coached.”