Bnei Herzliya defeated Hapoel Haifa 88-73 to punch their ticket to the semifinals by sweeping the Carmel Reds 3-0. Oren Aharoni’s squad came flying out of the gate as Chris Babb and Chinanu Onuaku scored at will from the outside and the inside to cruise to the 15-point win. Herzliya will now wait for the winner of the Tel Aviv Derby quarterfinal series as Maccabi is up 2-1 with game four coming up on Sunday.
Babb scored 22 points, Onuaku added 21 points, 15 rebounds and finished with a 45 efficiency rating while Maurice Keep scored 15 points and DJ Cooper chipped in 12 assists in the dominant win. Will Rayman with 20 points and Ofek Avital with 15 points paced Haifa in the loss.

Chinanu Onuaku – Photo Credit: Basket.co.il
“It’s great joy and I want to compliment Haifa who are a terrific team,” Herzliya coach Oren Aharoni. “I have to give credit to my players as they were ready mentally for this series. We are having a huge season and won a title. We are taking this game to game and each one we see the arena even more packed.”
“Herzliya was a better team and I have to give credit to their coach and players,” Haifa coach Elad Hasin said. “We may have finished the season with loss but I am proud of the team as we had some big wins and ended the season in the top six. All in all it was a fun season.”

DJ Cooper – Photo Credit: Basket.co.il
“It’s a big achievement and the club has been having good success this year,” DJ Cooper said. “We are taking it one game at a time. We have the confidence and chemistry so we’ve got a chance to win the title. I am a pass first point guard and have great shooters with Chris Babb and Chief Onuaku and I am just looking too fit in. Everybody can beat everybody in this league if you don’t come motivated. To win the championship you have to beat the best teams.”
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