Hapoel Tel Aviv put on a dominating performance in coach Ioannis Kastritis’s debut to take a 91-80 win over Jerusalem in the Capital City. The Tel Aviv Reds were in control from the get go as Mark Lyons (23 points/11 assists), Latavious Williams (21 points/8 rebounds), Jordan Hamilton (19 points) and Tomer Ginat (17 points/9rebounds) made sure to head back home with the victory. The closest Jerusalem came was when they narrowed the gap to 66-62 in the fourth quarter thanks to 8 straight points by Tashawn Thomas (23 points) but it wasn’t enough to send Oded Katash’s squad to their second Israeli league loss in a row and three out of their last four.

Hapoel Eilat surprised Maccabi Tel Aviv 86-81 at the Red Sea city sending the yellow-and-blue to their first league loss of the season. Ioannis Sfairpoulos’s Maccabi took a 38-31 advantage into the second half but Kyvon Davenport scored 11 points to open the third quarter for Arik Alfasi’s team to take the lead for good canceling out Deni Avdija’s career high 26 points. Davenport led Eilat with 20 points, Rayvonte Rice added 18 points and Jonathan Skjöldebrand scored 14 points in the win.

Maccabi Ashdod stunned upstart Hapoel Holon 82-69 at the Port City to win only their 3rd game of the season. Stefanos Dedas’s Holon took a 43-37 lead into halftime, but Brad Greenberg’s squad held the visitors to only nine points in the third quarter and outscored the opposition 45-26 over the final twenty minutes to north the victory. Paul Stoll led Ashdod with 21 points and 10 assists while Lior Eliyahu added 20 points and 9 rebounds in the win. TJ Cline was Holon’s top scorer with 19 points while Troy Caupain had 14 points in the loss.

Nahariya dropped Nes Tziona 88-83 thanks to a 24-13 third quarter to help Danny Franco’s squad to inch further up in the standings. With 5x Pro Bowl Defensive end Ndamukong Suh in attendance to watch his good friend Dominic Waters, the Nahariya floor general didn’t disappoint as he notched a double double with 14 points and 7 assists while Jerel McNeal added 22 points and Egor Koulechov chipped in with 14 points in the win. JP Tokoto, who was making his return to the Israeli league did so in fine fashion with 17 points and 11 rebounds for Nes Ziona in the defeat.

Maccabi Rishon Le’Zion downed Hapoel Beer Sheva 80-72 as Guy Goodes’s side readies for a State Cup semifinal date with Hapoel Jerusalem next week. Adam Ariel starred for Rishon with 21 points while James Kelly added 12 points in the win. TJ Williams was the Beer Sheva high scorer with 21 points.

Gregory Vargas recorded a triple-double to lead Maccabi Haifa over Hapoel Gilboa Galil 93-84. The Greens who were without James Young took advantage of Vargas’s 16 points, 12 rebounds and 13 assists to notch the victory which also saw rising star Roman Sorkin go 6/6 from 3-point range good for 22 points on the night for Haifa. Jarmar Gulley scored 25 points for Gilboa Galil in the loss.