Nes Ziona defeated Hapoel Gilboa Galil 81-71 to get back onto the winning track after falling to Jerusalem and Maccabi Tel Aviv. Lior Lubin’s squad jumped out in front early as Frank Bartley, Tim Soares and Tal Dunne dictated the pace to cruise to the 10-point win. Bartley led the way with 22 points, Soares added 19 points and 11 rebounds while Dunne who had been benched the last couple of games chipped in with a well rounded performance of 13 points, 6 boards and 5 assists in the win. Michael Brisker scored 16 points, Ronnie Harrell added 12 points and Yotam Hanochi scored 11 points in the loss.

“This was obviously a very important game for us,” game most valuable player Bartley began. “Everyone was focused and came ready to play. We’ll need that same mindset again for our next game. As for Tal, he is our leader. When he’s playing and in good spirits, he adds another dynamic to our team and raises everyone’s level of play with his play and IQ. We’re going to need everyone to get healthy and even more focused so that we can finish the regular season how we want to and keep it in our control.”

Bnei Herzliya defeated a game Hapoel Galil Elyon 79-72 in a hotly contested battle. Oren Aharoni’s Herzliya came out strong and took a 47-39 lead at halftime but the Barak Peleg’s Galilee sqaud came all the way back with a huge third quarter to snatch the advantage heading into the decisive frame. However, Chris Babb was too much to handle down the stretch as the hosts were able to take the 5-point win. Babb led all scorers with 29 points, Maurice Kemp checked in with 18 points and Sandy Cohen had 10 points in the victory. DJ Kennedy scored 15 points and Nimrod levi added 13 points in the loss.