Maccabi Tel Aviv 80-61 Bnei Herzliya
In their first home game of the season, Maccabi beat Bnei Herzliya 80-61 thanks to a strong 4th quarter performance outscoring the visitors 32-14 in the frame. One of the game’s biggest factors was Noris Cole who scored 17 points while Jonah Bolden nearly had a double double with 10 points and 8 boards. Deshaun Thomas added 11 points in the win. Herzliya started off strong in the 1st quarter, but could not close out the game even though they featured more players in double digits. Shawn Dawson guided the way for Herzliya with 15 points and 8 rebounds, Xavier Thames had 11 points and Taurean Green dropped 12 points with 2 assists in the defeat.
Maccabi Coach Neven Spahija said after the gane: “At the end we won because of our effort, we didn’t give up and we played hard for 40 minutes until we found the best lineup offensively and defensively and we won the game, that was the key.”
Keys to victory:
“All credit to Herzliya, they played well and put us in a difficult situation that we didn’t react well to. But I told my team in the pregame speech that you will not win against anybody in the first quarter.”
Returning to Yad Eliyahu:
“It was a very special day for me after 11 years to come to the arena, I knew that the expectations were going to be high and the first half didn’t look good. But at the end of the day it was most important that we won.”
Deshaun Thomas:
“We started off a little slow because it was our first home game and our jitters were running, but I think that as a team overall we picked it up defensively toward the end of the game and scored about 30 points. That’s what’s so special about our team is that we compete and never give up.”
Fighting until the end:
“We fight to the end, that’s one thing that we did until the fourth quarter and coach appreciates it a lot. We turned it up in the 4th and showed that we don’t give up. We went out there and played our game and controlled it.”
Key 3’s:
“My teammates put me in good position to knock those 3 pointers down and it turned the game around a little bit. Also, defensively Norris came in, picked it up a little bit and got a lot of deflections and that’s what really turned the game around in my eyes. We played great defense as a team.”
Hapoel Jerusalem 90-85 Maccabi Rishon Le’Zion
Rishon Le’Zion jumped out to an early lead but couldn’t hang on for the win as Hapoel Jerusalem topped Rishon Le’Zion 90-85 in Saturday night’s matchup. The Reds came back from a 9-point deficit to start the second quarter and kept on rolling from there outscoring Rishon Le’Zion 55-43 throughout the second and third quarters. Austin Daye led Hapoel Jerusalem with 19 points and 4 rebounds while Richard Howell had a double double with 16 points and 10 rebounds. Yotam Halperin supplemented the win as well with 13 points and 4 assists. Mark Tollefsen and Jason Siggers were the focal points for Rishon scoring 19 and 17 points respectively.
Jerusalem Head Coach Fotios Katsikaras:
“I’m happy we got our first home victory of the season in front of our fans. The atmosphere was great and the fans helped us out at the beginning of the game. We did a better job with our intensity in the second half and the third quarter was decisive as we were focused and played good defense while going for the rebounds. We have a long way in front of us.”
Austin Daye’s play:
“Austin has many ways to score, from the outside, putting the ball on the floor, from the low post. He is the type of player who can score a lot of points in a small amount of minutes. We have a lot of players that can attack.”
About Rich Howell:
“After coming to Jerusalem at the end of last season, he will have a chance to play in the EuroCup for the first time which is a tough competition. He fits perfectly into the system and he takes advantage of it. The way he moves he can play as a 5 and a 4 and he can play more positions. We will see both Alen Omic and Howell play together in the EuroCup and we will need both depending on the game and situation.”
Hapoel Eilat moved past UNET Holon 89-82 in a game that went down to the 4th quarter. Eilat outscored the hosts 27-21 in the 4th quarter as neither team led by more than 3 points in the frame. Eilat had 5 players in double figures with Mike Rosario’s 23 points leading the way. Demetrius Treadwell (16P & 12R) and Isaac Rosefelt (11P & 10R) both recorded double doubles as Jordan Loyd added 18 points in the win. UNET Holon featured a pair of players who each scored 21 points, Terrell Tu Holloway and Joe Alexander in the loss.
Ironi Nahariya 102-87 Hapoel Tel Aviv
Nahariya routed Hapoel Tel Aviv 102-87 as the hosts took an 11-point lead at the end of the first quarter and never looked back. Alex Young topped all scorers with 27 points and added 6 rebounds for the winning team, while five other players scored in double digits as Corey Webster had 15 points with 7 assists and Jonathan Skjoldebrand had 14 points. Raviv Limonad led the Hapoel Tel Aviv with 19 points and 5 rebounds and Tywain McKee supported him with 16 points ,6 assists and 4 rebounds. Adrian Banks had 11 points and Jeff Allen had 10 points but it wasn’t enough to close the gap.
Nes Ziona 79-71 Hapoel Gilboa/Galil
The newly promoted Nes Ziona won their first game back in the winner Basketball league thanks to fine play by Elad Hoffman who scored a career high 18 points while Jaron Johnson added 16 points and Talit Zanna chipped in with 15. Gary Browne recorded a double double with 10 points and 10 rebounds as Tal Dunne dished out 10 assists in the win. D’Angelo Harrison was injured after just 4 minutes of action for the visitors as Tyler Stone dropped a double double with 16 points and 11 rebounds.
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