Inter Aliyah downed Elitzur Tel Aviv 87-68 in their first official basketball game in Israel’s Liga Bet. After a slow start, Inter Aliyah led by Barak Swarttz and Ryan Clamage’s scoring along with Nate Leroy’s tight defense made up for a slow start to take the 19-point win.

The two teams traded baskets the entire first half, with each team refusing to take their foot off the gas pedal as Elitzur TLV took a slim halftime lead on a last second backcourt steal and layup in the final possession of the second quarter.

Following more back and forth play, Inter began to break the game open with a number of deflections leading to easy fast break scoring opportunities. Barak Swarttz, who led Inter in scoring was a handful for Tel Aviv and was fouled nearly every time he got into the paint.

With 6 minutes to go in the 4th quarter and Inter up by only single digits, coach AJ Mitnick lit his squad up during a timeout making sure they knew it was time to close out the game. The team responded with a valiant effort and cruised to the 19-point victory.