Hapoel Eilat notched a key win at Bnei Herzliya 86-81 as head coach Ariel Beit Halachmi celebrated his 500th league game in style with a victory. Emmanuel Lecomte came out strong and scored at will with 9 points to begin the game along with Eric Griffin as Eilat grabbed a 24-14 lead after ten minutes of play. While Netanel Artzi, Jared Terrell and Griffin kept finding the basket in the second quarter to bump the lead up to 17 points, Quinton Hooker got to work and was able to cut advantage to 44-37 at halftime.

Emmanuel Lecomte – Photo Credit: Basket.co.il
Chris Babb and Hooker came out like a house on fire to begin the second half while Julian Gamble also found points to help Oren Aharoni’s team to take a short lived lead as Lecomte, Artzi and DJ Funderburk put the visitors up 73-63 after thirty minutes of action. Andy Van Vliet started to cut into the lead for Herzliya, but Lecomte came up big in the final frame to salt away the win.
Lecomte led all scorers with 22 points and 8 assists, Griffin added 16 points as Netanel Artzi and DJ Funderburk each scored 12 points in the win. Hooker paced the hosts with 21 points and 8 assists while Julian Gamble chipped in with 18 points and Chris Babb scored 15 points in the defeat.

Ariel Beit Halachmi – Photo Credit: Basket.co.il
“I have to thank the league for the honor that they bestowed on me for coaching 500 games,” Beit Halachmi began. “To lose my 500th game, that was not going to happen so I am happy that we are able to win the game. We were a bit short near the end due to foul trouble but after last week when we lost at home, we were able to do solid job with our backs against the wall.”
Hapoel Haifa defeated Hapoel Galil Elyon 86-79 as the Carmel Reds were able to pull away in the final quarter of a close game. Deishuan Booker with 14 points and Itay Moskovitz paced the hosts as Kadeem Allen, Shawn Jones and Amit Simhon countered for the visitors as the game was all knotted up at 38-38 at halftime. Nimrod Levi got busy for Barak Peleg’s team as did Bryce Washington but Anthony Hickey and Jones were able to help Sharon Drucker’s team to open up the gap in the fourth quarter to record the win.
Hickey scored 24 points, Shawn Jones added 20 points and 10 rebounds while Kadeem Allen scored 13 points in the win. Booker led Galil Elyon with 20 points as Levi and Moskovitz each scored 14 points in the defeat.

Sharon Drucker – Photo Credit: Yehuda Halickman
“We made the big stops and had the right matchups,” Drucker explained. “We really fought for our lives in this game and while we have played well in Europe we needed to play well in the Israeli league too as it has been a while since we won in the domestic league. Every game is a big one and battle.”

Barak Peleg – Photo Credit: Yehuda Halickman
“We have had some issues on defense,” Peleg began. “We played better on defense in this game with more commitment but we had some issues. The game was close and we were a bit short handed as we are waiting for our point guard Roi Huber to return.”
The game MVP Shawn Jones spoke about the game and his connection with his point guard, “It always feels good to get the win. We locked in on defense in the second half and Anthony Hickey makes my job easier as he is a good point guard and an amazing talent.”
0 Comments