Hapoel Tel Aviv defeated a game Hapoel Eilat 91-81 in an entertaining clash as the Reds dominated the majority of the matchup to take the victory. Yam Madar poured in points early for the Reds while Reggie Upshaw and Gabe York provided the additional firepower over the 40 minutes to itch the win.

Yam Madar led all scorers with 22 points, Reggie Upshaw added 19 points and Gabe York chipped in with 16 points for Hapoel Tel Aviv. Josh Nebo paced Eilat with 20 points, Casey Prather put in 15 points and Markel Brown ended the game with 13 points.

Hapoel Eilat and Hapoel Tel Aviv both came out flying in the first quarter as the squads played fats upbeat basketball right from the tip whether it was Joe Ragland slicing to the basket and Josh Nebo putting down put back dunks or Yam Madar going off for a trio of triples and 11 points to give the Reds a 26-22 lead after ten minutes.

The frantic pace continued into the second quarter as Gabe York and Jonathan Mor had the hot hands for Ioannis Kastritis’s crew while Casey Prather and Markel Brown provided the scoring for Ariel Beit Halachmi’s Red Sea Squad. But it was some big time hustle by Tzuf Ben Moshe that scored points for Eilat, while both teams put on an aerial show at the end of the half with dunks by the big men Tyrique Jones and Josh Nebo as Tel Aviv took a 52-40 advantage into halftime.

The Reds began the third quarter like a house on absolute fire with a 12-0 run as it took Eilat close to five minutes to record their first points of the frame as Madar, York and Reggie Upshaw ran the visitors ragged as JP Tokoto took to the air for a mega Dunkaroo to head into the final frame up 72-58.

A rejuvenated Eilat came out flying to get the fourth quarter underway as Ragland and Nebo led the way early on to cut the leads down to 76-67 but Jones, Madar and Upshaw quelled the uprising to take the 91-81 win.

Maccabi Haifa just slipped by Hapoel Gilboa Galil 78-77 in Gan Ner as Naor Sharon scored a layup with just 5 seconds remaining in regulation time and newcomer Michael Cobbins scored 24 points in his debut to snag the win. Gilboa Galil took a 41-34 lead into halftime after stifling the Greens in the second quarter holding them to only 10 points. However, Daniel Seoane’s squad returned the favor outscoring Avishay Gordon’s team 21-13 in the third frame as Donta Smith sent Sharon a brilliant pass as the game time wound down to notch the tough victory.

Michael Cobbins starred in his first game in Israel with 24 points and 15 rebounds while drawing 10 fouls, Donta Smith added 13 points and 8 assists as Michael Brisker chipped in with 10 points in the win. Iftach Ziv scored 19 points to lead Gilboa Galil, Joe Thomasson added 17 points and Jehyve Floyd scored 10 points in the loss.

Hapoel Holon dominated Nahariya 98-76 as they grabbed the lead early and never looked back to take the win thanks to a magnificent 31-point performance by Isaiah Miles to help Stefanos Dedas’s squad the win. Chris Johnson added 18 points and Tyrus McGee chipped in with 14 points in the win. Mckenzie Moore scored 21 points in his Israeli league debut, Michael Young put in 17 points and Jaron Blossomgame scored 11 points in the loss.