Photos: Basket.co.il
Bnei Herzliya defeated Hapoel Holon 94-86 to keep their quarterfinal series alive and force a game four back in Holon later in the week. The game got off to a frenzied start with points a plenty across the board as Shalev Lugashi couldn’t miss from the outside and Chinanu Onuaku scored with ease for the hosts, Dakarai Tucker and Iftach Ziv countered but more points from Lugashi and Elijah Stewart gave Herzliya a 49-43 halftime lead.

Meeks poured in the points to open up the second half to give the hosts a double digit lead, but Michale Kyser, Iftach Ziv and Tucker cut down the gap, however, Meeks, Stewart and Lugashi all came up with huge baskets down the stretch to take the win.

Onuaku scored 22 points, Lugashi added 21 points and Stewart scored 20 points in the victory. Tucker scored 19 points, Ziv put in 18 points and Kyser scored 13 points in the loss.

Yehu Orland spoke about the win that kept his team alive, “The win kept us alive in this series and it’s great because we really didn’t want to end the season here in game three. The team that is playing now is not the team that finished in 4th place and we are a totally different team with a different methodology of playing. A basketball team needs to react to changes and I have to say that management did a tremendous job by bringing in players for those who were injured, hats off to them as we are improving every day.”

Hapoel Holon Head Coach Guy Kaplan looked back at the defeat, “We expected this reaction from Bnei Herzliya and they play very well at home. Even when we were leading we were a step behind them and they came out and played great from the get go. It was a game of runs and they rightfully won this game.”

Shalev Lugashi talked about the victory, “We came in very focussed more than any other games, we believed in it and we knew how to stay together, we played well together on offense and we will work on defense for the next game. I wanted this so badly and I was able to take what I was given in this game.”

Iftach Ziv reflected on the loss, “We knew this was going to be a tough game and the series was going to go more than three games, we blew a few chances and hopefully we can do what we need to in game four. We are a better defensive team than one which guess up 94 points and we have to show that.”

Shalev Lushashi scored on the inside, Elijah Stewart did the same from the outside and Chinanu Onuaku also found points in the paint for Bnei Herzliya, Justin Alston and Mike Davis both put in deuces as Netanel Artzi dialled up from long distance for Hapoel Holon but points from John Meeks and a triple by Lugashi gave the hosts a quick 13-7 lead midway through the first quarter.

The red hot Lugashi went from deep again, DJ Cooper went from downtown, Onuaku put in a 3-point play and a 3-pointer, but Alston and Dakarai Tucker came back from beyond the arc while Frederic Bourdillon countered from deep to give Yehu Orland’s team a 31-22 lead after ten minutes of play.

Artzi led off the second quarter from long distance, Michale Kyser dunked, Tucker also went from deep, Iftach Ziv went from the inside and outside, Onuaku and Lugashi went from deep, Tucker glided in for a reverse layup, Stewart and Lugashi went from beyond the arc while Markel Johnson added points to give the hosts a 49-43 advantage at halftime.

Davis and Meeks traded baskets to begin the third quarter, Ziv and Tucker scored, Onuaku and Meeks responded while Johnson dunked, Meeks went from deep, Kyser put in a 3-point play, Alston scored in the paint, Stewart and Cooper traded triples but Bourdillon capped off the frame from downtown as well to keep Herzliya in front 71-65 after thirty minutes of action.

Kyser started off the fourth quarter with points in the paint, Ziv put in a 3-point play, Onuaku and Kyser traded baskets, Johnson and Alston did the same, Tucker dunked off a long pass from Ziv who then went from deep himself to give the purples a 80-75 lead with 5:54 remaining in regulation time.

But Meeks knocked down a corner 3-ball, Stewart went for a pair from deep, Cooper and Lugashi traded triples, Onuaku dunked, Tucker went from deep but it was too little too late as Herzliya took the win.