Hapoel Jerusalem downed a pesky Nes Ziona 82-77 to stay at the top of the standings in first place. Sharp shooting by Suleiman Braimoh and clutch free throws by Adam Ariel at the end of the game cancelled out a masterful scoring performance by Diante Garrett. Nes Ziona took advantage of a sluggish Jerusalem out of the gate with points from Garrett and Tim Soares but Braimoh started to heat it up in the second quarter to send the game into halftime all tied up at 39-39.

Jalen Adams and Retin Obasohan pummeled Lior Lubin’s team in the third quarter, but Garrett and Simisola Shittu pulled Nes Ziona to within 4-points late in the game however, Obasohan and Ariel scored from the charity stripe to wrap up the victory.

Braimoh led Jerusalem with 18 points while Adams and Obasohan added 14 points a piece in the win. Garrett lead all scorers with 31 points, Soares chipped in with 16 points and Shittu scored 10 points in the loss.

“It’s hard to say it was a good game when it wasn’t,” Jerusalem coach Yotam Halperin said. We didn’t start well and when we were up by 18 points we allowed Nes Ziona to cut down our advantage to just two possessions. As for Garrett, it can’t happen that a player scores 31 points against Jerusalem and we had these things happen already this season. Our depth should be an advantage especially against a team like Nes Ziona.”

“We began and ended the game well but in the middle we allowed Jerusalem to make their runs,” Nes Ziona coach Lior Lubin explained. We knew Jerusalem would make a run but we made some mistakes and they gained the upper hand and hit some important baskets down the stretch.”

Jerusalem’s veteran center Itay Segev also shared his thoughts on the victory, “We played well for two plus quarters but the first quarter was not great and the last one we let them come back into the game. We are physical and aggressive team that plays tough, but they came in aggressive and ready to play at the start of the game.”

Frank Bartley and Diante Garrett each hit 3-pointers for Nes Ziona to get the first quarter underway but Retin Obasohan and Jalen Adams found points for Hapoel Jerusalem as the visitors grabbed a 8-6 lead midway through the period. Garrett and Tim Soares scored while Bartley put in a 3-point play, Amit Gershon and Adam Ariel nailed 3-pointers for the Reds, but Golan Gutt hit a fadeaway jumper to give Nes Ziona a 22-13 lead after ten minutes of play.

Nimrod Tishman and Simisola Shittu scored for Lior Lubin’s squad to begin the second quarter, Suleiman Braimoh, Itay Segev and Adams responded for the Reds to close the gap to 28-25 with 6:25 left in the first half. Braimoh and KC Rivers dialed up long distance, Garrett piled up the points at the other end while Segev put down a dunk to send the game into halftime all knotted up at 39-39.

Braimoh went from deep, Adams scored a 3-point play and Segev scored in the paint to get the third quarter off and running while Obasohan put down a mega windmill dunk to give Yotam Halperin’s squad a 53-43 lead midway through the frame. Obasohan kept filing the bucket, Garrett went from downtown, Gershon scored for Jerusalem as did Adams while Egbunu jammed the ball to hand the Reds a 65-50 lead after thirty minutes of action.

Gershon went from beyond the arc to start the fourth quarter, Garrett and Shittu scored for the visitors while Bartley added points as well to pull to within 8-points, 70-62 with 5:53 minutes remaining in regulation time. Shittu scored inside, Braimoh responded with a pair of baskets, Bartley went from deep, Garrett glided in for a layup and added a triple but free throws by Obasohan and Ariel sewed up the win.

Hapoel Gilboa Galil pulled away in the fourth quarter to down last place Maccabi Rishon Le’Zion 96-88 up at Gan Ner. In a back and forth battle that saw the hosts cling to a 1-point lead after three quarters, Michael Brisker and Ronnie Harrell took the bull by the horns to send Guy Kaplan’s team to the win. Brisker led all scorers with 22 points, Harrell added 21 points and Derek Cooke chipped in with 18 points in the win. Tu Holloway paced Rishon with 21 points, Anthony Brown checked in with 20 points and Archie Goodwin chipped in with 16 points in the defeat.

“This was a very important win but we didn’t play good enough on defense which is something we need to work on and improve in order to beat bigger clubs,” Michael Brisker explained. “But I am happy that we succeeded in taking the win after a great team effort.”