Hapoel Tel Aviv got by Hapoel Holon 89-83 as the reds were able to withstand a late run by the purples to win their third Israeli league game in a week. Adama Sanogo scored in bunches for Hapoel Holon to begin the game, but Bar Timor and Elijah Bryant along with Jonathan Motley scored with ease to give Hapoel Tel Aviv a 26-19 lead after the opening quarter. Motley and Bryant continued to pour in the points for Dimitrios Itoudis’s team, Xavier Munford and Idan Zalmanson countered for the purples but Bryant added a triple at the halftime buzzer to give the reds a 55-38 advantage.
Yam Madar started to score, Munford and Sanogo responded, Bryant came back with points but Predrag Krunic’s squad cut the Hapoel lead down to 68-57 after thirty minutes of action. Guy Palatin and Zalmanson traded triples to begin the final frame, Kravitz also went from deep and Netanel Artzi scored as well to drop the reds lead to a pair of points, but Motley, Timor and Bryant scored to close out the victory. Bryant scored 25 points, Motley added 18 points and Madar put in 14 points in the win while Munford and Sanogo each scored 19 points and Artzi chipped in with 13 points in the loss.
Hapoel Tel Aviv Dimitrios Itoudis reflected on the win, “We worked tough on practices and we knew that we may lose some rhythm as we brought guys back from injuries. We knew that this might cost us but we were able to control the game and went up by 20 points. They came back and scored a bunch off of hustle plays but we ended up winning the game.”
Holon Head Coach Predrag Krunic spoke about the defeat, “It was really intensive game from both sides, especially the second half as we played very good defense. We were able to do this and gave ourselves a chance to win the game. I was satisfied with the second half but in order to win here you need to play more than just twenty minutes and we lost the game in the first half. We are in a process and it’s important that we all believe that we will be there until the end of the season.”
The game MVP Elijah Bryant reflected on the victory, “We played a good game but we have to do a better job taking care of the ball and finishing off of the game. Any time we get wins it’s good and no matter what league that’s in, we’re grateful for the win. The game is momentum and runs and they are a rejected team. We all came here to do special things and we’ve had some injuries and having a guy like Kessler Edwards is great to help us succeed as a team.”
Netanel Artzi looked back at the loss, “After the last game against Hapoel Tel Aviv, that loss sat in us for a long time and we wanted to come back and with the help of our fans we were able to really get back into this game. While we lost we played for the club and we looked a lot better and we believe in the way we are playing. We were there and almost could have taken the win, but you can see our identity in this game and we want something good to come out of this season.”
Hapoel Beer Sheva crushed Maccabi Raanana 102-80 as the southern reds came out playing from the get go and went into halftime with a 52-34 lead to cruise to the victory. CJ Elleby scored 23 points while Brandon Angel and Damian Dunn each scored 20 points in the win as Tyrece Radford scored 19 points, Daylen Kountz put in 18 points and Joe Ragland scored 15 points in the loss.
Hapoel HaEmek defeated Elitzur Netanya 78-64 as a strong third quarter by Sharon Avrahami’s team broke the game wide open and helped spur the visitors to the win. Kyler Edwards and Rafi Menco each scored 16 points in the victory while Shaq Buchanan and Amit Gershon scored 12 points a piece in the loss.
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