Maccabi Tel Aviv defeated Hapoel Haifa 92-75 as six players featured in double digits to take the convincing road win. Avi Even’s squad jumped all over Hapoel Haifa from the jump ball as they hit four quick 3-pointers thanks to Keenan Evans, Khyri Thomas, Iftach Ziv and Jake Cohen while Roman Sorkin filled the basket from inside of the paint to grab a 28-16 lead after ten minutes. Elad Hasin’s team came right back with a trio of triples from Will Rayman and points by Kadeem Allen to cut the advantage down to a pair of points, but Thomas and Scottie Wilbekin bumped the lead right back up to 49-40 by halftime.

Scottie James nailed a pair of quick 3-pointers to get the third quarter underway to close the gap to 52-51 but Cohen dropped 8 straight points for Even’s squad and John Dibartolomeo also scored as the yellow-and-blue headed into the final frame with a 72-60 lead. Angelo Caloiaro, Ziv and Sorkin went to work in the fourth quarter as Maccabi scored at will to take the 17-point victory.

Keenan Evans and Khyri Thomas each scored 13 points, Jake Cohen added 12 points while Roman Sorkin and Angelo Caloiaro scored 11 points a piece in the win. Will Rayman led the way for Haifa with 17 points, Gregory Vargas added 14 points and Kadeem Allen chipped in with 12 points in the loss.

“I’m happy we won,” Even began. “We just had a game less than 48 hors earlier, but the players came in with the right energy. We have things to improve on and we will keep working on them. We need to find a bit more balance and find an anchor when we need one at times.”

Game MVP Keenan Evans reflected on the win, “We came to play and wanted to keep up the positive momentum. As for my play, being on the same page as my teammates has been key and we keep giving each other confidence.”

Hapoel Holon downed Bnei Herzliya 91-82 in a game that was never close as Guy Goodes squad shot 20/36 (56%) from beyond the arc to pick up the victory. Adam Smith, Rafi Menco, Guy Pnini, Tyrus McGee and Hayden Dalton all went from deep early and often to take a 73-55 advantage after three quarters to cruise to the win. Chris Johnson took a hard hit to the head in a collision wtih Andy Van Vliet and was taken to Asaf HaRofeh Hospital as a precaution ahead of the club’s Champions League quarterfinal series with Strasburg which begins this week.

Smith scored 19 points, Pnini and McGee each scored 14 points while Menco added 12 points and 13 rebounds in the victory. Maurice Kemp paced Herzliya with 18 points, Chinanu Onuaku added 17 points and Chris Babb chipped in with 16 points in the loss.

“I had feelings that this game was going to go to a bad place with our 4th game in the week,” winning coach Guy Goodes said. “But the guys surprised me and themselves, we started straining, defended and hit our shots. I have to really give them credit. They have a lot of heart.”

“Holon shot at very high percentages, 20/36 and that’s an incredible statistic to go along with some big baskets as well,” concluded Herzilya coach Oren Aharoni.