Hapoel Holon surprised Hapoel Jerusalem 73-72 as Kevin Hervey starred to send the purples to the win. Levi Randolph and Khadeen Carrington helped the Reds grab an early lead but strong play by Kevin Hervey for Amit Sherf’s squad kept the game close as the two teams headed into halftime with the Ilias Kantzouris’s side nursing a 1-point, 33-32 lead. Hervey and Drew Crawford kept scoring to keep the visitors close but Yovel Zoosman helped the hosts head into the final frame with a 56-53 advantage. However, the Crawford and Hervey duo were able to hit their free throws down the stretch to come out on top.

Hervey led the way with 26 points and 7 rebounds, Crawford added 14 points and Netanel Artzi chipped in with 11 points in the win. Carrington scored 17 points, Levi Randolph added 13 points and Yovel Zoosman scored 12 points in the loss.

“We won due to our defense and the effort that the players put into the game,” Sherf said following the game. “We had some trouble at times, but we really saw that character, desire and effort on defense that won the game. We came back from being down with some individual efforts and that really was big for us to help us take the win.”

“I believe that we played very badly and this was not us,” Kantzouris explained. There is only one person responsible for this and it’s me, I take full responsibility. We failed in hitting our small targets and tactics, my job is to get back onto the basketball track and play the basketball that we can. I trust the players and the responsibility is mine.”

Netanel Artzi spoke about the win, “We came in very prepared for this game and even though we only had a short time to get ready, we were focused from the start of the game and we all gave our heart which is what helped us take the win, I’m happy that we were able to come away with the victory.”

Khadeen Carrington shared his thoughts on the loss, “Tough game, I feel like me missed a few assignments and I don’t think the game should have been that close but we will have to learn from this. It was a close game and it was a couple calls either way. I think we could have done some better things on offense and defense.”

Yotam Hanochi and Drew Crawford went from deep for Hapoel Holon, Levi Randolph put in a 3-point play, Speedy Smith added a deuce, Or Cornelius went in for a dunk and JaCorey Williams scored for Hapoel Jerusalem, Kevin Hervey came back with a pair of baskets but Khadeen Carrington went from the outside and inside to give the Reds a 17-13 lead after ten minutes of play.

Niv Misgav found points to begin the second quarter, Yovel Zoosman knocked down a corner 3-pointer, Harvey glided in for an uncontested layup, Chris Johnson went from deep, Shachar Amir dropped a deuce, Deondre Burns put in a trio of buckets, Artzi put down a dunk and Smith came back with points as Jerusalem took a 33-32 advantage into halftime.

Hervey drained a pair of triples to get the third quarter underway, Artzi added a pair of baskets inside, Nimrod Levi came back with points, Drew Crawford put in a 3-point play, Zoosman put in a pair of buckets, Randolph dialled up long distance, Hervey did the same as did Zoosman to give the Reds a 56-53 lead after thirty minutes of action.

Johnson and Artzi traded baskets, Carrington dropped a pair of baskets, Hervey countered from the inside and outside and then added a turnaround jumper, Randolph drilled home a 3-pointer, Crawford knocked down a corner 3-ball and then hit a trio of free throws while Hervey scored a pair from the charity stripe to close out the victory.