Hapoel Holon defeated Igokea 86-79 to move their record to an even .500 at 2-2 in order to be in the running for at least a Play In spot in Basketball Champions League action. Marcus Bingham, Michale Kyser and Niv Misgav all scored for Hapoel Holon but points from Terrell Carter Borisa Simanic along with Bryce Joens who hit a crucial 3-pointer at the end of the first half gave Igokea a 42-39 lead. Dakarai Tucker and Jalen Adams both started to score at will while Iftach Ziv also found points to take the lead in the third quarter while Bingham scored from the inside and outside, Dragan Milosavljevic and Jones countered but Ziv was there to close out the game.

Bingham scored 20 points, Ziv added 19 points and Adams put in 16 points in the win. Milosavljevic scored 18 points, Jones added 17 points, Carter chipped in with 16 points in the loss.

“It was an important win and a key game to see where we are going forward,” Holon coach Guy Goodes said. “We struggled a bit when we made enough stops but didn’t score enough baskets. We spoke about focus and concentration as well as converting defense to offense at halftime. We did a good job in the 3rd quarter but we turned the ball over a bit which forced me to take timeouts to calm things down. We need to be more consistent every single quarter.”

Iftach Ziv spoke about the win, “It was a big one for us as we struggled in the first two games of the season but this was an important win for us. We tried to execute the game plan to control their 3-point shots and protect the ball which I guess worked as we won the game. I think everything is open in in our group and everyone can beat everyone. We will go into every game to do our best.”

“We played a good game but we missed some shots and we were also missing some of the small things. At certain points we were leading by 4-6 points but we are a new team so it’s a process,” Igokea head coach Nenad Stefanovic explained.

Terrell Carter also reflected on the game, “We fought hard and we have a good mix of guys. We are playing teams from different countries and we are learning how to play a full 40 minute game. Our guys are fighting for 40 minutes and we want to put a complete game together.”