Hapoel Tel Aviv defeated a game Hapoel Galil Elyon 79-64 in a rough and tumble game that saw a bit of Israeli basketball history take place. The hosts executed their game plan to a “T” in the first period as Rawle Alkins helped lead the way to a 23-14 advantage after ten minutes. However, the visitors came right back in the second quarter and held Guni Izraeli’s team scoreless through halftime while Yam Madar, Marcus Bingham and Oz Blayzer handed Dimitrios Itoudis’s squad a 36-23 lead.

Bingham and Madar kept finding the bottom of the basket as the second half got underway as Marcus Carr, Yonatan Atias and Alkins tried to keep the hosts close, but Ish Wainright scored at will in the final frame to sew up the victory.

Madar scored 17 points and dished out 11 assists, Bingham added 14 points and Wainright scored 13 points in the win. Alkins and Carr each scored 17 points and Atias chipped in with 8 points in the loss.

“You witnessed two different quarters in the first half,” Hapoel Tel Aviv coach Dimitrios Itoudis began. “First quarter we were sloppy and defensively we were not present, gave a lot to Galil and were down by 9. We spoke to the guys and put down some targets and the fact that we kept them scoreless is something memorable for this league and in general dor basketball regardless as to what level you’re playing and this is the first league in Israel. We showed that we could really defend at theI level.

“We started to move the ball well in the third quarter, overall I expected such a game as Galil was fighting. We brought it to the end smoothly and this game will help us a lot because we didn’t all of a sudden become a super team because we won three games or four or five. It’s a process and we have to compete everyday and improve and prove each and every why we want to become better.”

“We began the game very well and when we controlled the rebounds we were able to run,” Hapoel Galil Elyon head coach Guni Izraeli said. “The second quarter we set some history by not scoring but they were very aggressive and we missed some good shots. We tried to stop their run during the period but it was very tough. We had a very good comeback in the second half and cut their lead to just two points but we ran out of energy, however, there is a lot to take out of this game.”

Marcus Bingham spoke about the club’s win, “It felt good and to get back out there after a few games having not played. Shout out to Galil they didn’t quit and they came into the game short handed with some injured players. We had to play hard and we came out with the victory but they will pick up some good wins this season.”

Yonatan Atias, who played significant minutes for the first time in the top league spoke about the game from his point of view, “It was very important for me to be able to contribute without center Lennard Freeman. It was incredible to play here with a huge crowd and great atmosphere, playing against the top players is what it’s all about and it’s quite amazing. It’s hard to miss what happened in the second quarter when we didn’t score but we came back in the third quarter and cut down the lead to stay in the game.”

Marcus Carr, Rawle Alkins and Lucas Goldenberg were all busy for Hapoel Galil Elyon as they jumped out to an early 15-7 lead over Hapoel Tel Aviv and kept pouring on the offense as Alon’s added a dunk and a corner 3-ball to keep the hosts in front 23-14 after ten minutes of play. Yam Madar started to score at will to begin the second quarter, Marcus Bingham and Oz Blayzer added points, Bingham dunked, Bar Timor scored as well to take the quarter 22-0 and give Dimitrios Itoudis’s team a 36-23 advantage at halftime.

Bingham jammed to get the third quarter underway, Timor went from deep, Carr came back with points a plenty, Jonathan Motley scored inside, Blayzer went from deep, Alkins put in a 3-point play but so did Motley, however, points by Yonatan Atias cut the gap to 54-47 after thirty minutes of action. Ish Wainright had the hot hand as the fourth quarter got off to a fast start, Alkins responded, Madar nailed a 3-pointer, added a 3-point play and hit a turnaround, Wainright drilled home a corner 3-ball, Bingham dunked as Wainright kept scoring in bunches to wrap up the win.

Hapoel Haifa downed Hapoel Beer Sheva 87-81 as JaKeenan Gant and Amit Gershon came back to haunt their old club to help the Carmel Reds to their first win in a couple of months. The southern reds came out strong and grabbed a 15-2 lead as Paul Scruggs and Ray Spalding paced the hosts, however, the visitors cut the gap as Gant, Gershon and Tyler Bey ahead into halftime down by only 3-points, 42-39.

Bey, Gant and Gershon kept scoring for Rami Hadar’s team while Spencer Weisz and Iverson Molinar found points for Roi Perel’s squad, but Daniel Rosenbaum hit a key basket while Gil Noyovitch also found critical points to wrap up the win.

Gant scored 24 points, Gershon added 21 points and Bey chipped in with 16 points in the win. Scruggs scored 19 points, Molinar put in 14 points and Weisz scored 13 points in the loss.