Nes Ziona defeated Hapoel Holon 72-60 as Ricky Lindo, Bryce Brown, Yair Kravits and key points from Jake Van Tubbergen wrapped up the win for the hosts.

Ricky Lindo came out scoring at will while Bryce Brown and Darnell Edge also found the bottom of the basket for Nes Ziona as Justin Alston scored a pair from deep for Hapoel Holon but the hosts grabbed a 26-15 lead after ten minutes of play. Itay Segev began finding the basket on the inside while Yair Kravits also scored while Mike Davis Jr. began to cut down the lead which was up to double digits to head into halftime with Amit Sherf’s team leading 41-35 at halftime.

Alston and Davis kept finding the basket to pull the purples closer but Jake Van Tubbergen and Bryce Brown kept scoring as well to keep Nes Ziona in front 54-50 after thirty minutes of action. Kravits and Lindo kept scoring, Elijah Mitrou-Long scored a pair of baskets, Van Tubbergen came back from deep and then scored inside along with Segev to wrap up the game.

Brown scored 17 points, Lindo added 15 points and Van Tubbergen chipped in with 13 points in the win. Alston scored 17 points and Davis scored 15 points in the loss.

“I think we played very tough basketball,” Nes Ziona coach Amit Sherf said. “We really earned this win from our defense and our desire of play. We didn’t let off the gas at all the entire game and we really deserved this win for our intensity. Holon have guards who can score easily so we needed to play tough defense and also play on our switches.”

“From the get go we saw what team wanted it more,” Holon coach Guy Kaplan said. “Nes Ziona really fought by the skin of their teeth, whether it was rebounds or other small details. Maybe we could have stayed in the game with a 3-pointer here or there.”

Yair Kravits spoke about the win, “This game for us was great, we picked up the win and got back into the swing of things. We are working hard and we believe in one another, things are going the right way.”

Idan Zalmanson reflected on the loss, “One team wanted it more and we felt that from the start of the game. I felt a bit of complacency in the lockerroom before the game. We have to learn from this and we can ever come into a game like this again. When you come into a game with a bad attitude that’s an issue. We have to come in with the right attitude and this is not the first time this has happened.”