Bnei Herzliya knocked off previously undefeated Maccabi Tel Aviv 106-101 in overtime as Xavier Sneed came up clutch down the stretch with a trio of free throws with under a second left in regulation time to tie up the game and send it into the extra session where he continued to score and help his team to the win.

Yehu Orland’s squad came out strong as Sneed and Jimmy Clark controlled the pace of play from the get go while Levi Randolph and Jaylen Hoard contributed for Oded Katash’s team, however, Herzliya took a 27-19 lead after the opening period. Maccabi’s new recruit David DeJulius started hitting his shots form deep while Hoard and Randolph kept the yellow-and-blue competitive but Chris Silva ensured that the hosts went into half-time holding a slim 48-46 advantage.

Roman Sorkin and Tamir Blatt along with DeJulius got busy in the third quarter while Josh Hawley countered. However, with the game all but over with Maccabi holding a 3-point lead late, an untimely foul by Jokubaitis sent Sneed to the line for a trio of free throws which he coolly sank to send the contest into overtime all knotted up at 91-91. In the extra session it was all Herzliya as Sneed, Hawley and Clark chalked up the 5-point win.

Sneed and Smith scored 25 points a piece while Clark added 19 points and Hawley chipped in with 16 points in the win. Hoard led Maccabi with 20 points, Randolph put in 17 points and DeJulius scored 15 points in the loss.

“I’m happy that we were in a situation that fans were able to enjoy the intensity of this game and the excitement whether you are a fan of Herzliya or Maccabi Tel Aviv,” Herzliya head coach Yehu Orland began. “We have a lot of talent on this team and we have to stay modest. I’m happy about the way we played even more so than the win itself. This was the biggest win in my career without a doubt.”

“Things happened in this game that we were afraid of happening,” Maccabi bench boss Oded Katash said. “We lost and we had some bad luck in a game that went to overtime. We tried to limit the minutes of the players ahead of a busy week and we weren’t able to do so as it’s not that simple. We didn’t get into the game from the get go and we have to give Herzliya credit. We knew they would be dangerous and having two of our big man foul out gave us issues as well.”

The game MVP Xavier Sneed reflected on the victory, “We won a hard fought game and we knew it was going to be tough coming into this game. We had to get stops and rebounds and while we didn’t play to our full potential we got the win. The home crowd brings a lot for us and they are a 6th man on the court.”

Levi Randolph reflected on the defeat, “It was a tough game for us, they fought all game and were aggressive. They brought intensity and we knew they would turn up the pace. The main goal for us is to keep getting better, they were aggressive, we have things to work on, we had foul trouble and it was tough for us. We were focused on this game and we are taking it one day at a time as we now head to a Euroleague Double Week.”

Wenyen Gabriel began the game with a thundering dunk for Maccabi Tel Aviv, quick triples by Jimmy Clark and Xavier Sneed countered for Bnei Herzliya while Levi Randolph went from the inside and outside but another 3-pointer by Clark gave the hosts a 13-11 lead midway through the first quarter. Chris Silva dropped a deuce, Sneed and Jaylen Hoard traded baskets, Roman Sorkin dunked, Frederic Bourdillon went from deep while Ethan Burg got by David DeJulius and hit a jumper on John Dibartolomeo to give Herzliya a 27-19 lead after ten minutes of play.

DeJulius hit a pair of 3-pointers to get the second quarter underway, Dibartolomeo went from deep, Gabriel scored off the backboard, Hoard scored a pair of baskets and Randolph drilled one from downtown to give Oded Katash’s squad a 37-36 lead with five minutes left in the first half. Silva put in a trio of baskets, Tamir Blatt scored in the paint, Jokubaitis fed Sorkin for an alley-oop, Will Rayman went from downtown, but yet another basket by Silva gave Yehu Orland’s team a 48-46 advantage at halftime.

Silva with a deuce, Clark from deep and an Alon Michaeli dunk opened the third quarter on fire for Herzliya DeJulius came back with a basket, Sorkin powered in a bucket, Hoard put in a 3-point play, Josh Hawley came back with a layup, Blatt dialled up long distance, Clark grabbed a loose ball and dunked, Jake Cohen and Rayman scored while Burg hit a shot at the buzzer but Maccabi moved into the lead 71-68 after thirty minutes of action.

Hawley put in a layup to start the fourth quarter, Menco drained a 3-pointer, Sorkin put in his own rebound, Burg and DeJulius traded baskets, Hoard dunked at the end of the shot clock but Sneed and Burg kept the game close as the yellow-and-blue stayed in front 80-76 with five minutes remaining in regulation time. Sneed went from beyond the arc and added a layup, DeJulius hit an off balance 3-pointer, Silva scored and Sneed hit a pair of free throws to tie the game up at 86-86 with under a minute left.

Cohen fouled Silva who knocked down his shots from the charity stripe, but an offensive foul gave Maccabi the ball as Hoard scored in the paint and DeJulius added a pair of free throws. However, a Jokubaitis foul beyond the arc on Sneed gave him the chance to hit all three of his free throws with under a second left which he did with ease to send the game into overtime all knotted up at 91-91.

Sneed and Clark went from downtown to begin the extra session, Randolph and Jokubaitis scored their free throws, Sneed drilled home a deuce, Hawley dunked, Jokubaitis came back with points but Hawley was left all alone under the basket for yet another jam to close out the win.

Hapoel Jerusalem eased past Hapoel Haifa 82-61 as a big third quarter by Yovel Zoosman bust open the game to hand the capital city reds the win. The Carmel reds took an early lead thanks to DeAndre Pinckney but Khadeen Carrington, Chris Johnson and Derek Ogbeide moved Yonatan Alon’s team into the lead by halftime 41-36. Zoosman started to get hot in the third quarter as Jared Harper found points as well to help Jerusalem pull away for good and cruise to the victory.

Zoosman scored 17 points, Johnson scored 16 points and grabbed 12 rebounds while Carrington chipped in with 13 points in the win. Pinckney and Kenny Boynton each scored 16 points in the loss.

Maccabi Ramat Gan downed Hapoel Galil Elyon 96-80 as Shmulik Brenner’s team took control of the game by halftime thanks to fine play by Roberto Gallinat, Amin Stevens and Adam Ariel as they cruised to the win. Gallinat scored 21 points, Stevens added 20 points and Ariel put in 12 points in the win while Rawle Alkins scored 30 points in the defeat.