Holon snaps Jerusalem’s streak with victory in the capital

Jerusalem entered the game on the back of a four-game winning streak in local league play, its longest of the season, winning eight of its past nine games over all competitions.

By ALLON SINAI
Hapoel Holon guard Khalif Wyatt scored a game-high 31 points in last night’s 92-84 overtime win at Hapoel Tel Aviv. (photo credit: ADI AVISHAI)
Hapoel Holon guard Khalif Wyatt scored a game-high 31 points in last night’s 92-84 overtime win at Hapoel Tel Aviv.
(photo credit: ADI AVISHAI)
Hapoel Jerusalem’s BSL winning streak came to an end on Sunday night with an 85-79 defeat to Hapoel Holon at the Jerusalem Arena.
Jerusalem entered the game on the back of a four-game winning streak in local league play, its longest of the season, winning eight of its past nine games over all competitions.
Jerusalem had also lost only one of eight home games in the BSL prior to Sunday’s clash.
However, it couldn’t continue and build momentum against a strong Holon side, despite coming back from a 16-point deficit in the first quarter to take a three-point lead into the break.
An 11-0 Holon run late in the third quarter and early in the fourth period gave it a seven-point cushion (71-64) it would maintain until the final buzzer, thanks in large to another superb performance by Khalif Wyatt. The guard scored a game-high 25 points, while Jordan Taylor added 17 points for Holon, which improved to 11-5.
“We stayed mentally tough,” said Wyatt. “We got off to a good start but they came right back. We showed a lot of character by staying in the game and bouncing back and claiming the win.”
Amar’e Stoudemire had 19 points for Jerusalem, which fell to 10-7.
Hapoel Gilboa/Galil improved to 6-10 on Sunday, snapping a six-game losing streak with a 93-92 overtime win over Maccabi Rishon Lezion.
Maccabi guard Patrick Richard hit a three-pointer at the buzzer to force overtime (85- 85) after missing his first eight attempts from beyond the arc.
Rishon took the lead through Shawn Dawson’s triple with 14.3 seconds remaining in overtime, but Gilboa would clinch the win thanks to Jason Sigers’s winning basket with 2.1 seconds to play.
Sigers also scoring the go-ahead basket in Gilboa’s last win against Maccabi Tel Aviv at Yad Eliyahu Arena.
Sigers finished with 20 points for Gilboa, while Dawson had 31 points for Rishon, which fell to 8-8.
“I’m delighted,” said Gilboa coach Ariel Beit-Halachmi.
“I hope this win will help us return to our early season form.
We need to build on this when we visit Eilat on Thursday.”
Also Sunday, Ironi Nahariya beat Maccabi Haifa 83-73 behind 22 points from Nick Faust.