Herzliya, Kiryat Gat return to winning ways

By ALLON SINAI
Updated: FEBRUARY 2, 2016 04:17
Bnei Herzliya guard Stephen Dennis finished with a team-high 18 points in last night’s 86-78 win over Hapoel Eilat in BSL action. (photo credit: ADI AVISHAI)
Bnei Herzliya guard Stephen Dennis finished with a team-high 18 points in last night’s 86-78 win over Hapoel Eilat in BSL action.
(photo credit: ADI AVISHAI)
Bnei Herzliya snapped a three-game losing streak over all competitions on Monday night to move tied with fourth-place in the BSL standings, beating Hapoel Eilat 86-78.
Herzliya improved to 10-8, level with Maccabi Rishon Lezion and Ironi Nahariya, after going on a 17-3 run late in the fourth quarter to edge Eilat at home.
Herzliya came into the game on the back of a defeat to Nahariya, which followed a loss to Maccabi Haifa and a State Cup exit at the hands of Rishon.
There was little to separate Herzliya and Eilat for much of Monday’s encounter, with Eilat looking for a win in order to move back to .500 for the first time since the second week of the season. A LaQuinton Ross basket midway through the fourth period gave Eilat a six-point cushion (73-67), but the hosts completely dominated the final five minutes to clinch the victory.
Stephen Dennis and Drew Crawford had 18 points each for Herzliya, with Alade Aminu finishing with 24 points and 14 rebounds for Eilat.
Maccabi Kiryat Gat returned to winning ways and dragged Hapoel Tel Aviv back to the relegation battle with a 90-79 victory on Monday.
Kiryat Gat squandered a 25-point gap last week on the way to a painful loss to Eilat, dropping to its fifth defeat from six games.
However, it bounced back against Hapoel on Monday, improving to 5-13. Tel Aviv had won three of its previous four contests to open some breathing space from the bottom of the standings.
But Monday’s loss saw it fall to 7-11, just two games from last place.
Paul Delaney had 23 points for Kiryat Gat, with Jeff Allen scoring 21 points for Hapoel.
Maccabi Ashdod improved to 9-9 on Monday, beating Ironi Ness Ziona 91-86. Ashdod outscored the visitors 28-11 in the final 10 minutes to clinch the win. Charles Thomas finished with 19 points and 10 rebounds for Ashdod, while Yuval Naimi scored 35 points for Ness Ziona, which fell to 6-12.