Hapoel Holon downed Nes Ziona 85-76 to win their best of three series 2-1 and move into the semifinals where they will face Hapoel Gilboa Galil. CJ Harris was the main cog in coach Stefanos Dedas’s team as the guard scored aplenty throughout the 40 minutes while Willy Workman, Michal Sokolowski and Niv Misgav found critical points to notch the hard earned win.

Harris led all scorers with 25 points, Sokolowski added 17 points and Workman chipped in with 15 points in the win. Wayne Selden was the Nes Ziona high scorer with 24 points, Braian Angola scored 19 points and Patrick Miller added 12 points in the loss.

“We knew that Nes Ziona is a vey good and tough team,” Coach Dedas said following the victory. “Some people said don’t finish in second so we can avoid Nes Ziona but we wanted to have home court advantage. We know Gilboa very well and we will prepare mentally and they will have an advantage as they rested a few more days.”

״Holon deserved to win,” Nes Ziona coach Brad Greenberg began. “I told the players that this has been a season of great success as we have won a European title, had an 8 game wining streak and advanced to the playoffs. I want the guys to remember that and not the disappointment.”

Hapoel Holon will host Hapoel Gilboa Galil on Monday at 21:00 while game two will be up in Gan Ner on Wednesday night at 21:00 while game three if necessary will be on Friday at 15:00.

CJ Harris scored at will during the first quarter as the Holon guard helped the hosts to a 15-14 lead as Wayne Selden countered for Nes Ziona. Patrick Miller and Braian Angola began heating up during the second quarter as they scored on the inside and outside to give Brad Greenberg’s team a 37-34 advantage after twenty minutes of play.

Selden, Angola and Miller kept finding the basket in the third quarter, but foul trouble gave Stefanos Dedas’s Holon a chance to take a 60-57 lead into the final frame as Michal Sokolowski and Willy Workman scored important buckets for the purples.

Niv Misgav scored a pair from deep and Workman scored inside to give Holon a 70-62 lead with 6:45 left in the fourth quarter as Miller fouled out for Nes Ziona. Frederic Bourdillon scored his first points of the game, Workman went from downtown but Selden kept Nes Ziona hanging around as they cut the lead to 75-69 with 3:48 remaining in regulation time.

Workman continued to score as he went in for a layup while Selden countered at the other end but Nate Sestina drilled home a triple and Harris hit his free throws to wrap up the 9-point win.