Hapoel Holon used a dominant second half to defeat Hapoel Galil Elyon 91-79 as six purples finished the contest in double figures to move into the Winner Cup semifinals where they will play the winner of the Maccabi Tel Aviv and Hapoel Gilboa Galil quarterfinal matchup next Thursday. The reining champions came out strong from the get go as Marvin Jones and Chris Johnson paced Guy Goodes’s squad but Jalen Hudson and Deishaun Booker made sure to keep the northerners close, down by 5-points 50-45 at halftime. However, Joe Ragland, Niv Misgav and Frederic Bourdillon all raised their game to pull away over the final twenty minutes to record the victory.

CJ Harris who made his return to Hapoel Holon left the game in the middle of the first quarter after having slipped on the stickers on the floor and looked to have picked up a serious injury as he headed to the hospital for x-rays.

Joe Ragland led the way with a near triple-double of 16 points, 12 assists and 7 rebounds, Chris Johnson added 16 points, Marvin Jones checked in with a double-double 15 points and 10 boards while Frederic Bourdillon and Niv Misgav scored 14 points a piece in the win. Deishuan Booker with 21 points and Jalen Hudson with 20 paced Galil Elyon.

Game MVP Joe Ragland looked back on the win, “I was ready and excited to be back to continue this journey. It’s going to be a tough season and we are ready for the obstacles. This is the start of the season for us and we went to try and get as far as we can and win it.”

“We had intensity and we were able to find our second wind,” Holon coach Guy Goodes said. “CJ going out hurt our rotation, I wasn’t thrilled that Joe played so many minutes but this is the preseason and we had players missing. We have an important tournament coming up in Greece against Euroleague teams.”

Goodes also spoke about Ragland learning how to play with his new teammates, “Marvin is still learning Joe and vice-versa as they are trying to find those moments when he can go to the basket. Joe has taken Marvin under his wing just like he did with Josh Nebo and Michale Kyser.”

Over on the Galil side, head coach Barak Peleg summed up the game, “Our situation wasn’t optional as we were missing players and we have to see how we will keep growing. There aren’t a lot of things that bother me but being naive is one and the urgency to make the plays is another and I wasn’t happy about that.”