Three rematch games were held tonight (Saturday) in the National League. In the spotlight, Hapoel Afula came out on top with a narrow 87:88 victory and kept them out of sixth place and Urbani Nahariya had a hard time with Yitzhur against Elitzur Netanya, but they also returned home with a 75:83 victory, mainly thanks to Yogev Ohayon. At the same time, AS Ramat Hasharon defeated Hapoel Migdal Haemek / Jezreel 86:90 after a tense end.
Maccabi Haifa – Hapoel Afula 88:87
A tremendous drama in Romema ended in the victory of Hapoel Afula, which kept its rival away from sixth place. Throughout the 40 minutes the game was level, but the visitors usually had a small advantage. In the third quarter, Avi Sugar’s team, who were sent off in the final quarter, woke up and took the lead. In the last minutes, the Greens came in with a 79:83 advantage, but large actions by Alon Sapir and Omar Elal transferred the advantage to the team from the capital of the valley.
In the end, Shields (24 points, 9 assists and 8 rebounds) was sent to the line with a point advantage but missed twice and allowed the home team to win, but Josh Freund missed a comfortable three. Kwame Wen’s 33 points did not help Maccabi Haifa, which is suffering its third loss this season to Hapoel Afula.
Scored a lot for Maccabi Haifa: Kwame Won 33 points, Steve Taylor Jr. (10 rebounds) 20 points, Josh Freund 11 points, Chris Smith 7 points.
Hapoel Afula often scored: Caron Dshields (9 assists, 8 rebounds) 24 points, Michael Holyfield and Alon Sapir 12 points each, Anton Shotbin (4/4 from the field) 10 points, Guy Dotan and Ziv Ben Zvi 8 points each.
Elitzur Netanya – Urbani Nahariya 83:75
The Purples led throughout the game, and whenever the Diamonds were given a chance to get close they failed to do so. About 4 minutes before the end of the game, the board showed a 68:68 tie after a technical foul by Shai Saglovich, but from that point Yogev Ohayon took responsibility and with a big three and a great assist, he secured a victory for Nahariya. Ruben Nyberg’s team was unable to take advantage of Maccabi Haifa’s loss and is again in a negative balance.
Many scored for Elitzur Netanya: Dashon Parsons (7/11 for two) 19 points, Roi Paritzky 16 points, Tom Spector, Chen Guy and Eitan Burg 8 points each.
Many scored for Nahariya: Dustin Thomas (6/7 for two) 21 points, Yogev Ohayon (9/9 from the line, 7 assists) 20 points, Tomer Cohen (4/5 for three) 17 points, Dolev Drapich 10 points, Ofek Ben Yaakov ( 6 rebounds) 6 points.
AS Ramat Hasharon – Hapoel Migdal Haemek / Jezreel 86:90
Guy Cantor’s team defeated the team from the valley tonight, in a game that was close at the end. The locals were already leading 32:51 at the half, but in the third quarter Ricky Puck (29 points in the debut) brought his team back into the game. In the last quarter, the home team ran away again, but again Migdal Haemek / Jezreel returned to the game but failed to complete a makeover. The winners scored 13 threes at 48 percent and got 19 points off the bench.
Many scored for AS Ramat Hasharon: Uri Chai (5/7 for three) 19 points, Yam Yonatan (4/6 for three) 18 points, Gil Amitai (7 assists) 17 points, Kevin Capers 15 points, Tyler Weidman 11 points.
Many scored for Hapoel Migdal Haemek / Jezreel: Ricky Pak 29 points, Rom Cornelius 16 points, Raven Barber 11 points, Tomer Asaig (9 assists) 10 points, Liran Moran 9 points.