Gilboa/Galil upsets Netanya for maiden triumph

Hapoel Gilboa/Galil claims its 1st victory of BSL season surprising in-form Barak Netanya 83-74 on the road.

By ALLON SINAI
Hapoel Gilboa center Ido Kuzikaro 311 (photo credit: Asaf Kliger)
Hapoel Gilboa center Ido Kuzikaro 311
(photo credit: Asaf Kliger)
Hapoel Gilboa/Galil finally claimed its first victory of the BSL season on Monday night, surprising in-form Barak Netanya 83-74 on the road.
Gilboa entered the game as one of the league’s biggest disappointments after beginning the season with a 0-6 record, while Netanya has been the BSL’s surprise package, winning five of its first six games.
However, Gilboa outscored Netanya 30-16 in the second quarter on Monday and remained in control until the final buzzer to finally get its campaign rolling.
Mitchell Watt led Gilboa with 21 points and 10 rebounds, with Jamar Smith adding 20 points, six assists and five rebounds.
Deron Washington had 22 points and eight boards for Netanya, which led 18-17 after 10 minutes.
However, Gilboa went on an 11-0 second-quarter run to seize control (30-25) and led by double digits for almost all of the second half after taking a 47-34 gap into the break.
Also Monday, Maccabi Rishon Lezion snapped a two-game losing streak and improved to 4-2, beating Bnei Herzliya 91-76.
The final score didn’t really do Rishon’s dominance justice, with the visitors beginning the game with a 14-2 run and all but clinching the win by halftime, opening a 54-28 lead.
Julian Wright led Rishon with 20 points and 10 rebounds, while Adrian Uter scored 18 and Lazeric Jones added 16.
Romel Beck had 25 points for Herzliya, which dropped to 2-4, losing its third straight game.
“We steamrolled them in the first half,” said Rishon’s pleased coach Effi Birenboim. “We implemented everything we worked on during the week.
However, as a coach I do need to find a solution for what happened to us in the second half.
“We still have some issues to fix. But most of all we need to be patient.”
Maccabi Ashdod’s game against Maccabi Haifa was postponed to Wednesday due to last week’s rocket fire from Gaza.