The Israel Winner Basketball League 20/21 season got underway in Eilat as the hosts downed Nes Ziona 95-85 in a one sided affair. The Red Sea City squad built up a huge 53-35 lead over the course of the first half to cruise to the win. Casey Prather led the way for Ariel Beit Halachmi’s team with 23 points and 6 rebounds, Joe Ragland added 22 points and 6 assists. Zuf Ben Moshe chipped in with 15 points with four 3-pointers and rookie center Josh Nebo scored 13 points and grabbed 9 boards in the victory. For Brad Greenberg’s squad who only were able to dish out a total of 5 assists throughout the game, Patrick Miller scored 24 points and Kwan Cheatham added 20 points in the defeat.

Up north, the two newcomers to the top division Hapoel Haifa and Bnei Herzliya met at the Romema Arena by the Carmel Mountains in an entertaining affair that saw the hosts tale the slim 80-79 win. Back and forth action littered the court throughout the 40 minutes that saw Elad Hasin’s squad find a way to come back in the fourth quarter to take the hard earned victory. Jason Siggers with 19 points, Keenan Evans with 14 points, 6 rebounds and 8 assists along with Lennard Freeman who added 14 points led the Reds while Frank Gaines with 21 points, Gabe Levine with 16 points and Jaylen Morris with 16 points as well were the top scorers for Sharon Drucker’s team.

Hapoel Gilboa Galil handily took care of Nahariya 73-63 in the northern capital as Iftach Ziv led the way for Lior Lubin’s squad with 17 points, 9 rebounds and 4 assists to notch the win. Kerry Blackshear scored 13 points and grabbed 7 boards while Isaiah Cousins added 12 points in the win. Or Leumi was the high scorer for Danny Franco’s team with 16 points as Jaron Blossomgame and Kalin Lucas each had 14 points in the loss.