Bnei Herzliya downed Hapoel Jerusalem 75-64 to even up their quarterfinal playoff series at 1-1. Yair Kravetz set the tone early for Herzliya to take a 42-26 lead at halftime while Maurice Kemp and Julian Gamble came up big down the stretch to notch the victory as game three will move back to the capital city on Wednesday night. Oren Aharoni’s squad went 50% from beyond the arc as the Israeli guard combo of Kravetz and Oded Brandwein scored 24 points to lead the hosts to the win.

Kravetz led the way with 14 points while Kemp and Gamble each scored 13 points in the victory. Speedy Smith scored 17 points and Zach Hankins added 10 points and 14 rebounds in the loss.

“The players get a lot of credit for what they did in this game as they showed huge heart,” Aharoni began. “The guys played incredible defense and while we failed to win the first game in Jerusalem, we left everything on the floor in both games. The fans deserved this win and it was great to see our fans so excited.”

“We weren’t playing our game from the first minute and we played without intensity,” Jerusalem assistant coach Shai Olerarczyk said. “We have to get back to our usual style of play next game. We have had trouble at times this season getting off to a good start and getting into the flow of the game.”

Julian Gamble reflected on the win, “Fantastic game for us. This was a moment for us to protect our home court and have our fans see a playoff win. We had a few moments last game that we needed to turn around if it was rebounding or being more intense. We had to fight against Jerusalem’s depth and we have to do that again next game. It’s the playoffs and everybody will give their best.”

Jerusalem big man Zach Hankins spoke about the loss, “We played way below our means, defensive and offensive standards. We started off slow and we can’t count on Speedy Smith getting us out of a hole like he did last game, not a single one of us played well. We know they are a talented team and what they are capable of, our last loss came here and in big games they have beaten all the top teams.”

Quinton Hooker, Yair Kravetz and Robert Carter all found points from beyond the arc for Bnei Herzliya as the hosts grabbed a 18-10 lead after ten minutes of action. Kravetz went again from deep for a pair of triples, Maurice Kemp scored inside, Oded Brandwein joined the 3-pointer party, Julian Gamble scored a trio in the paint as Zach Hankins and Mareks Mejeris tried to keep Hapoel Jerusalem close but Oren Aharoni’s squad went into halftime with a 42-26 advantage.

Levi Randolph and Speedy Smith started to heat up to begin the third quarter, TJ Cline added a pair of buckets, Hooker went from deep and Gamble scored on the inside, Khadeen Carrington found points as did Hankins, but Kravetz hit a corner 3-ball to keep the Herzliya up by double digits 57-46 after thirty minutes of action.

Smith got Aleksandar Dzikic’s squad on the board first in the fourth quarter, Cornelius dropped a layup, Brandwein dialled up for long distance, but Hankins dunked to pull the Reds to within 63-56 with 5:38 remaining in regulation time. Kemp and Cornelius traded buckets, Gamble dunked, Smith put in a 3-point play but Kemp responded with a pair inside to wrap up the win.

Maccabi Tel Aviv defeated Hapoel Beer Sheva 80-76 to go up 2-0 and out a stranglehold on their quarterfinal series. Lorenzo Brown helped the yellow-and-blue to and early lead but Joaquin Szuchman helped the southern reds get back into the game to head into halftime all knotted up at 38-38. Lior Lubin’s squad kept putting the pressure on the visitors as Ben Moore and David Efiyani found the basket, but Brown, Roman Sorkin and Alex Poythress all came up with buckets as time wound down to give Oded Katash’s team the win.

Brown led the way with 21 points, Sorkin added 13 points and Poythress scored 11 points in the win. Moore with 17 points and Efiyani with 16 points paced Beer Sheva in the loss.

“They are very tactical and they came in prepared,” Katash said about Beer Sheva. “We started the game off well and we were in control but we then had a brutal second quarter. We didn’t have proper body language and we played for the result and not the game itself. Little by little they gained confidence that they would be able to do it.”

“We understand that we need to make more of an effort,” Lubin explained. “Maccabi Tel Aviv is the best team in Israel, they have a huge advantage in size. They began the game much better than us, but we knew what needed to be done and we put in the effort. However, we saw that it was not enough but we will need to give another push.”

Lorenzo Brown spoke about the win, “The guys needed and I did what I had to as a point guard. I got other players involved and I played defense. We are missing some players and we will be much better when they are back on the court.”