Maccabi Ramat Gan downed Bnei Herzliya 89-75 as Roi Huber and Drew Crawford scored at will from deep to take the win ahead of their critical BCL Play In game on Wednesday. Crawford drained a trio of triples in the first quarter while Huber, Isaiah Miles, Kendale McCullum and Benyahu Srur were instrumental over the final thirty minutes as they held the likes of Jimmy Clark and Xavier Sneed at bay to take the victory.

Huber scored 18 points, McCullum added 17 points and Crawford dropped 14 points in the win. Josh Hawley scored 19 points, Chris Silva put in 17 points and Ethan Burg scored 16 points in the loss.

“We knew how important this game was to us as we played an excellent team that play at a very high level,” Ramat Gan head coach Shmulik Brenner explained. “Adam Ariel couldn’t play due to a late neck injury so Dori Sahar had to take his place and he played extremely well. Benyahu Srur’s defense was at the highest of levels here as well. He didn’t have an easy start of the season due to an injury and it took him time to really get into the swing of things. Everyone really gave it their all to win this game.”

“This was a game against a very good team on their home court,” Herzliya coach Yehu Orland began. “It was a big challenge for us and if we want to reach the highest of levels we need to win these types of games on the road. We didn’t start off well and we had issues in the first quarter. We aren’t the first team that this has happened to. But we have to turn the page as we are one of the teams playing in the State Cup and that isn’t something to be taken granted for.”

Benyahu Srur spoke about the win from his point of view, “We started the game well on both sides of the court but our defensive rebounds were an issue for us in the first half. However, we did a better job in the second half which really was the key to the win. I always give 100% and the guys all did a great job as we all really wanted to take this win.”

Ethan Burg reflected on the loss, “It’s disappointing and we thought we could get a bit more out of our game especially with some of Ramat Gan’s players out injured. This was an important game against a team that we are competing against for a spot in Europe and we were just unable to execute our game plan.”

Drew Crawford had the hot hand early with a trio of triples to get Maccabi Ramat Gan rolling, Chris Silva and Ethan Burg responded for Bnei Herzliya but points from Kendale McCullum, Isaiah Miles and a triple at the buzzer by Dori Sahar gave the hosts a 28-18 lead after ten minutes of play. Burg and Sahar traded baskets, Josh Hawley and Benyahu Srur did the same while Roi Huber dialled up long distance to give Shmulik Brenner’s team a 44-33 advantage at halftime.

Amin Stevens scored his first points of the game to begin the third quarter, Huber and Burg traded triples, McCullum added points, Hawley countered for Yehu Orland’s team, Srur cleaned up the boards while Huber cruised in for a layup to close the period out with an 8-0 run to stay ahead 66-52 after thirty minutes of action. Burg and John Meeks led off the fourth quarter from deep, Miles and Huber did the same, Crawford drilled home a 3-pointer, McCullum scored as well to wrap up the victory.

Hapoel Beer Sheva cruised past Elitzur Netanya 96-80 as Rami Hadar’s team came out flying and grabbed a 27-11 lead after the opening quarter and never looked back to take the win. Iverson Molinar led the way with 24 points, Spencer Weisz added 18 points and Ray Spalding scored 17 points in the win while Kyler Edwards scored 17 points and Carlos Marshall put in 16 points in the loss.