Hapoel Tel Aviv defeated Hapoel Gilboa Galil 93-78 up in Gan Ner as five Reds scored in double digits to go up 2-0 in their best-of-5 quarterfinal series. Niv Misgav filled the basket early on for Gilboa, Tomer Ginat and Johnathan Motley did the same for Hapoel as Marcus Foster and Gur Lavy started to find the bottom of the bucket as well but it was the hosts who grabbed a slim 45-44 advantage at halftime.

Lavy kept scoring at will, Ish Wainright scored a pair from deep and Timor found points to put the Reds ahead as Foster scored to help polish off the game. Hapoel Tel Aviv will look to close out the series on Friday afternoon at Yad Eliyahu (15:30) and advance to the semifinals. Timor scored 17 points while Motley and Ginat both added 14 points in the win. Lavy scored 22 points, Misgav put in 16 points and Ish El-Amin scored 11 points in the loss.

“The series is not over and we need one more win,” Coach Itoudis began. “We had a slow start as we were late with the bus and we came in 45 minutes delayed and everyone was in a rush. We had a slow start and then had some good momentum from there as we started building a better attitude in the third quarter and established better decisions on both sides of the floor. We are happy we are healthy and we are looking forward for Friday’s game.”

“We started off well and were ready to play,” Gilboa coach Sharon Avrahami said. “We were there for 35 minutes of the game but we just didn’t have enough energy at the end, there were big shots from Oz Blayzer and Ish Wainright that hurt us down the stretch. We came in and believed that we could do it, we brought in some tactical play and we needed a few extra shots to win but we will come into the third game and give that extra. We came into the playoffs with good momentum and we have a lot to be proud of.”

The captain Bar Timor reflected on the win, “The first half we were not as good as we could have been on the defensive side and we didn’t stick to the game plan. We did a better job in the second half and now we will move on to Friday.”

Ish El-Amin spoke about the loss, “If you were here you knew it was a closer game than the score showed. We came out with aggressiveness and atmosphere to keep it close and a game that we could win. We did that for three quarters and in the fourth we were flat and we were on the wrong end of the run. The fight that we showed is what we need on Friday to steal a game.”

Elijah Childs went from deep, Ish El-Amin hit a jumper, Gur Lavy put down a dunk off the baseline and Niv Misgav dropped in with a 4-point play to begin the game in earnest for Hapoel Gilboa Galil, Antonio Blakeney put in a deuce as did Tomer Ginat for Hapoel Tel Aviv as the hosts grabbed a 16-6 lead midway through the first quarter. Lavy went from deep, Blakeney hit a jumper as did Ginat, Misgav went from the outside and inside, Johnathan Motley found points in the paint while Bar Timor scored as well but Gilboa held onto a 24-23 lead after ten minutes of play.

Gil Beni hit a jumper to began the second quarter, Josh Price and Childs put in points, Timor put in a 3-point play and Marcus Foster scored as well, Lavy dropped a pair of buckets, Foster and Motley scored, El-Amin and Foster traded triples but a Roie Netzia free throw kept Sharon Avrahami’s squad ahead 45-44 at halftime.

Timor led off the third quarter with points off the glass and then dished off to Motley for a dunk, Ginat went from deep, Lavy scored a pair of baskets, Blakeney nailed another jumper as Misgav and Lavy went from downtown to stay in front 56-55 midway through the period. Ish Wainright nailed a pair of corner 3-balls, Timor put in points, Price came back with a 3-point play, Paul Scruggs put on a spin move in the paint for two but the reds took a 69-65 lead after thirty minutes of action.

Scruggs began the final frame with an acrobatic layup, Oz Blayzer drilled home pair of triples, Foster added points, Scruggs and Lavy scored from downtown, Blakeney hit a jumper and Timor put in a layup while Wainright nailed yet another corner 3-ball to finish off the game two win.