By Aaron Glenn

Hapoel Tel Aviv 103-94 Maccabi Rishon Le’Zion

In the much anticipated debut of Nate Robinson, Hapoel Tel Aviv shocked Rishon Le’Zlon. Tel Aviv fell behind early going down 16 in the first frame. In the second quarter Tel Aviv fixed up there defense and gave up only 10 points to take a 5 point lead. The game was tied after three, and Tel Aviv pulled away in the 4th to pull off the upset.

Rishon Le’Zion was not able to control the ball giving up 14 turnovers compared to Hapoel’s 7. Robinson showed how he can control the the game from the point only committing one turnover. Rishon didn’t feed their beast Darryl Monroe enough in the paint as they took more 3’s than 2 point field goals.

Nate the Great led all scorers with 25 points. Raviv Limonad helped out with 21 points and 9 rebounds. Jeff Allen had a double-double for Tel Aviv with 18 points and 12 rebounds. Mark Lyons led Rishon with 23 points and 9 assists, and Shawn Dawson scored 20 points in their defeat.

Hapoel Jerusalem 73-66 Maccabi Tel Aviv

In the low scoring affair, Hapoel Jerusalem edged out rival Maccabi Tel Aviv in a neck and neck game. Yotam Halperin had a game high 23 points thanks to his 5/7 shooting from behind the arc. Both teams were sloppy with the ball turning it over more times than they had assists. Gal Mekel had 15 points and 6 assists for Tel Aviv and Dragen Bendor had 11 points in the loss.

Maccabi Kiryat Gat 87-86 Maccabi Ashdod

Paul Delaney, Marco Killigsworth, and Alando Tucker all score 20+ points in Kiryat Gat’s victory over Ashdod. Kiryat Gat was very efficient from the free throw line shooting 85% from the strike. Diante Garrett had 19 points and 8 assists for Ashdod in the loss.

Hapoel Eilat 78-71 Ironi Nahariya

Led by Alade Aminu’s 16 points, Hapoel Eilat took down Nahariya. Five of Eilat’s players scored in double-digits on the night out of the eight players who saw minutes for coach Oded Katash. Richard Howell scored 21 points for Nahariya. This victory puts Eilat two pints back from Nahariya in the standings.

Maccabi Haifa 73-63 Nes Ziona

Maccabi Haifa and its swarming defense dominated the entire game against Nes Ziona as Will Graves led Haifa in points with 16. The difference maker in this game was the turnover difference. Haifa forced 21 Nes Ziona turnovers during the game which led to some easy buckets. Sundiata Gaines led Nes Ziona with 16 points.

Hapoel Holon 83-76 Bnei Herzliya

Thanks to a combined 64 points by its top performers, Hapoel Holon defeated Herzliya in a close game. Isaac Rosefelt had 23 points to go along with 9 rebounds for Holon. Will Clyburn helped out scoring 20 points while grabbing 11 rebounds. Shlomi Harush stepped up big time scoring an efficient 21 points in 22 minutes of play while James Singleton led the way for Herzliya in the loss with 20 points and 9 rebounds.