{"id":98944,"date":"2023-11-29T19:17:12","date_gmt":"2023-11-29T19:17:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportsrabbi.com\/?p=98944"},"modified":"2023-11-29T19:19:48","modified_gmt":"2023-11-29T19:19:48","slug":"ramat-gan-drops-herzliya-afula-downs-beer-sheva-nes-ziona-bests-haifa","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportsrabbi.com\/en\/ramat-gan-drops-herzliya-afula-downs-beer-sheva-nes-ziona-bests-haifa\/","title":{"rendered":"Ramat Gan drops Herzliya, Afula downs Beer Sheva, Nes Ziona bests Haifa"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Israel basketball league was back in action for the first time since the war with Hamas broke out on October 7th as a trio of games took center stage across the country. In addition, Hapoel Tel Aviv and Hapoel Holon were back playing in their continental competitions, the EuroCup and Baseball Champions League respectively in what was a very busy week on the hardwood.
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Jordan Cohen – Photo Credit: Guy Bitman, Maccabi Ramat Gan<\/p><\/div>
\nMaccabi Ramat Gan defeated Bnei Herzliya 80-70<\/strong> to wrap up their first victory back in the top division. Jordan Cohen and Isaiah Miles had the hot hands for Maccabi Ramat Gan to get the game underway while Robert Carter answered for Bnei Herzliya but JP Tokoto, Adam Ariel and Benyahu Srur helped give the visitors a 51-31 lead at halftime. Sandy Cohen and Herzliya\u2019s new captain Willy Workman started to cut into the Ramat Gan lead but Alex Hamilton turned up the offense to sew up the win.<\/p>\n

Cohen led the way with 14 points, Hamilton added 13 points and Tokoto scored 13 points and grabbed 9 rebounds in the win. Carter paced the hosts with 19 points, Workman chipped in with 13 points and 12 rebounds while Cohen scored 12 points in the loss.
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Sandy Cohen and Alex Hamilton – Photo Credit: Guy Bitman, Maccabi Ironi Ramat Gan<\/p><\/div>
\nThe game MVP Alex Hamilton spoke about the game that was, “We got an early lead and Herzliya did a great job to get back into the game but we closed it out. It\u2019s years of experience, as guys stepped up and we played as a team. As for how I\u2019ve been able to integrate into the team, the guys in the lockerroom and the staff made it easy for me and everyone here at Ramat Gan has been great. For me to sign in Israel, it is a place that I am comfortable with and if the people are comfortable enough to stay and deal with the tough situation on a daily basis, then I am all for it to come here.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was very tough for the team to come together and click but we were able to do it,\u201d Ramat Gan Head Coach Shmulik Brenner said. \u201cWe are coming together without just one star and that is what we are talking about all of the time. Every few minutes it was someone else who stepped up and we can see that everyone here can contribute throughout the game.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe didn\u2019t get into the game well and it was if we were just really at a beginning stage,\u201d Herzliya Head Coach Dan Shamir said. \u201cBut to get into the game we started playing defense and we also began playing together as a team, however, we have plenty of work to out in and if we aren\u2019t playing well we have to play defense and put in the energy which we didn\u2019t have in the first half of this game.\u201d
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