Bnei Herzliya went on a fourth quarter 16-0 run to knock off Hapoel Gilboa Galil 84-60 and get their third round of games off to a positive start as they solidified their place in the upcoming postseason. Chris Babb hit nothing but net while Maurice Kemp, Robert Carter and Quinton Hooker all played crucial roles in the victory. On the other side of the floor, Gilboa is in a very precarious situation as they are staring at the reality of being relegated at the end of the season.

Babb led all scorers with 24 points, Kemp added 18 points and 10 rebounds while Carter scored 14 points in the win. Tony Carr scored 21 points to pace Gilboa in the loss.

“The lower half of the standings is tough as there are good teams and everyone is battling,” Herzliya coach Oren Aharoni said. “Gilboa is a good team with an excellent coach and they are fighting for their lives so it was going to be tough. But we came into the game focussed. In the first half we made some mistakes but in the second half we saw Yair Kravetz playing superb defense and both Babb and Carter hitting important 3-pointers for us to take the win.”

Maurice kemp also reflected on the victory, “This win was crucial and going into these last few games we needed a confirmed boost and needed to see out hard work throughout the week pay off which it did and I think we will feed off of that and hopefully ride that momentum to the next one.”

Fighting for their Israel Premier League lives, Hapoel Gilboa Galil got off to a solid start as Amit Suss scored a pair from the corner, Chad Brown worked the inside while Payton Willis went from deep at the end of the first quarter to cancel out Chris Babb and Quinton Hooker’s buckets to take a 19-18 lead.

Chris Babb started to light up the scoreboard for Bnei Herzliya as did Quinton Hooker to give the hosts the lead but Tony Carr and London Perrantes dialled up long distance to keep the game tight, however a layup by Hooker gave Oren Aharoni’s team a slim 37-35 advantage at halftime.

The Herzliya big men Maurice Kemp and Julian Gamble took control of the game in the third quarter while Carr tried to keep Ariel Beit Halachmi’s team close Herzliya took a 52-48 lead in the final frame.

Kemp continued to find the basket, Babb and Carter each went for a pair from beyond the arc to send Herzliya on a 16-0 run to end any chance of Gilboa making a comeback as the hosts took the win.

Kiryat Ata used a huge final frame to comeback and defeat Hapoel Eilat 85-83 up north to inch closer to the playoffs. Amin Stevens, Karam Mashour and Yotam Hanochi helped the hosts to a 45-43 lead at halftime, but Austin Tilghman, Mangok Mathiang and Eric Griffin dominated the third quarter to give the Red Sea squad a 70-59 lead. However, Brisker caught fire as Juvonte Reddic and Diante Garrett also scored crucial baskets down the stretch to take the 2-point win.

Stevens led the way with 15 points while Brisker and Reddic each added 13 points in the win. Griffin scored 21 points and Tilghman chipped in with 15 points in the loss.