Maccabi Haifa 81-83 Maccabi Tel Aviv

Maccabi Tel Aviv beat Maccabi Haifa on the road, 83-81, in a close encounter to drop Haifa to another loss. Victor Rudd led Tel Aviv with 21 points off the bench, while Sylven Landesberg added 13 points. Tony Mitchell had a huge 28 points and 15 rebounds, while Amit Simhon had 17 points in the losing effort for Haifa.

Sonny Weems addressed the press following the game:

You said you wanted to be the Lebron James of Maccabi Tel Aviv? Was that an Lebron like performance?

“Man you know what, the day that happened (Weems Blog Post) you know I think the recorder he wrote it wrong. I’m not saying I want to be the Lebron of Maccabi, I want to do what Lebron does for his team, you know guard the best player, every game LeBron ends with 8-9 assists, 8-9 rebounds. That is the kind of player I want to be, help my team in that way, on the defensive and rebounding and assisting end.”

Rami Hadar also spoke to the media:

“Every game is important, we are at the top of the league with a gap, and we want to keep this gap, so every game is important.”

On Victor Rudd’s performance and his play at multiple positions:

“Victor is very versatile, he can play three positions in the Israeli leage, 3,4,5, and in Europe he usually plays the 4 position. In general, he is playing well and he found his spot in the puzzle and he is doing well.”

About Sonny Weems being a winner:

“Sonny Weems a winner? Sonny Weems is a winner, Sonny is a player with experience, personality, and presence.”

How was is to come back to Haifa?

“I was here for two great years, I have a warm place in my heart for this place, and the truth is that unless Jeff Rosen hadn’t found me and given me an opportunity, I would probably be somewhere else now, and therefore I will never forget what he did.”

Hapoel Jerusalem 79-59 Rishon Lezion

Hapoel Jerusalem continued their good form with a blowout home win over second place Rishon Le’Zion. Jerome Dyson had 20 points, while Lior Eliyahu had 16 for Jerusalem, who have now won three in a row in all competitions. Javon McCrea had a huge 23 points and 13 rebounds for the losing Rishon side. For the full MATCH REPORT CLICK HERE!

Hapoel Tel Aviv 84-92 Hapoel Holon

Hapeol Holon snapped Hapoel Tel Aviv’s two game winning streak by beating the Reds 92-84. Khaliff Wyatt had 31 points for Holon, while Darion Atkins recorded a double-double with 17 points and 11 rebounds. Alando Tucker had 21 points, while Adrian Banks added 15 in the losing effort for Tel Aviv.

Hapoel Eilat 85-77 Maccabi Ashdod

Hapoel Eilat had 6 players in double digits, beating Ashdod 85-77. Landon Milbourne led the way with 18 points, while Reginald Buckner and Tony Mitchell added 12 points each for Eilat. Chase Simon had 16 points and 12 rebounds while Jake Cohen and Daniel Ewing had 17 points each for Ashdod.

Maccabi Kiryat Gat 86-90 Hapoel Gilboa/Galil

Jason Siggers and Eric Griffen led Gilboa/Galil to a 90-86 road victory over Maccabi Kiryat Gat with 20 points a piece. Michael Qualls also added 19 points off the bench, while Murphy Holloway had 18 points for Gilboa. Tyshawn Taylor had 20 points, while Eyal Shulman had 17 points for Kiryat Gat.

Ironi Nahariya 72-75 Bnei Herzliya

Bnei Herzilya beat Ironi Nahariya 75-72 on the road, in what was a close encounter. Jeff Adrien had 22 points and 12 rebounds, Taureen Green had 18 points for Herzliya while Karam Mashour picked up a double-double with 15 points and 14 rebounds. Nick Faust had 14 points off a strong bench performance for Nahariya.