Hapoel Jerusalem took care of Hapoel Holon 85-79 as Chris Johnson starred against his former to pace the reds to the win. The purples came out with their shooting shoes on as Elijah Mitrou-Long and Jalen Adams couldn’t miss from deep in the first half, but Khadeen Carrington and Chris Johnson along with Justin Smith helped the reds to a 51-45 advantage at halftime. The duo of Mitrou-Long and Adams continued to score at will but Jared Harper, Jeremy Morgan, Gaby Chachashvili and Johnson went on a 15-0 fourth quarter run to take the lead for good made sure to keep the visitors in front to take the win.

Johnson scored 18 points and grabbed 11 rebounds, Harper added 18 points while Carrington put in 17 points in the win. Adams scored 23 points and Mitrou-Long put in 16 points in the loss.

Hapoel Jerusalem Head Coach Yonatan Alon spoke about having a player like MVP Chris Johnson on his roster, “He’s only getting better. The way I see basketball, personality leads the player, not necessarily the talent. With Chris Johnson, that’s exactly what you see, his character and his impact on the players on the team. When you see someone working like that on the court, there won’t be anyone who won’t give their all. That’s what he brings to a basketball team.”

Holon’s new head coach Guy Kaplan looked back at the game and taking over as the club’s bench boss, “It really hurt us when they went on a 15-0 run in the last quarter. We tried to stop it in various ways, but the 50/50 balls really was a problem for us in this game. As for me taking the head coaching position, I’m part of the club and I was asked to stay on, Guy Goodes as well said that. I have experience as a head coach and I will use that to help the team as long as I am in this position.”

Khadeen Carrington spoke about the win and Chris Johnson’s performance, “We are a tough team from top to bottom and we are really gritty. We put ourselves in a situation sometimes that we need to come back but we are able to. It means a lot to have a veteran like Chris on the team. I’ve known him for a long time, he brings a ton of energy everyday and he helps bring toughness into the lockerroom.

Netanel Artzi looked back at the game that was, “We didn’t get enough of the 50/50 balls and Jerusalem was able to take advantage of that and score. That really hurt us. In the last quarter they used their momentum and the ball just kept going in. They are a team with a lot of talent and we have to find a way to get out of these tough couple of weeks.”

Justin Smith and Khadeen Carrington scored for Hapoel Jerusalem while Elijah Mitrou-Long and Jalen Adams went from deep for Hapoel Holon to open the game Carrington continued to pour in the points while Mitrou-Long and Adams did the same to knot the game up at 22-22 after ten minutes of play.

Adams and Mitrou-Long continued to knock down their shots from deep, Chris Johnson and Carrington responded, Michale Kyser dunked and Harper came back with points to tie the game up at 34-34 midway through the second quarter. Adams and Johnson traded triples, Dakarai Tucker nailed a corner 3-ball, Iftach Ziv scored a pair inside, but Harper and Yovel Zoosman went from downtown while Gaby Chachashvili and Smith put in points to head into halftime with a 51-45 advantage.

Mike Davis Jr. knocked down a pair of triples, Adams kept scoring from deep, Chachashvili came back with a deuce, Mitrou-Long scored inside, Tucker scored on the outside, as did Harper but the purples took a 64-62 lead after thirty minutes of action.

Netanel Artzi began the fourth quarter with a pair from deep, Zoosman and Smith came back with points, Johnson and Morgan nailed 3-pointers, Chachashvili and Tarik Phillip scored, Adams came back with points, Johnson put in a deuce, Davis went from downtown but it was too little, too late as the Reds took the win.

Hapoel Afula knocked off slumping Hapoel Galil Elyon 87-65 as Ariel Beit Halachmi’s squad cruised to the win. Jalen Leque, Justyn Mutts and JP Tokoto were all busy for Hapoel Afula in the first half while Lukas Goldenberg and Rawle Alkins countered for Hapoel Galil Elyon as the hosts took a 47-39 lead at halftime. J’Covan Brown, Muriel Lutati and Tokoto continued to fill the basket as Lior Carreira tried to keep the visitors close to no avail. Tokoto scored 18 points, Brown added 17 points and Mutts scored 15 points in the win while Alkins scored 15 points and Carreira put in 14 points in the loss.

Maccabi Ramat Gan dropped Nes Ziona 76-61 as Amin Stevens was unstoppable inside while the team’s defense held the hosts to just 21 second half points to take the win. Stevens scored 26 points, Isaiah Miles added 14 points and Adam Ariel scored 13 points in the win while Jerome Meyinsse and Bryce Brown each scored 11 points in the loss.