Gilboa makes it three straight wins with Haifa victory

Hapoel Gilboa/Galil continued its surge up the BSL standings with a fifth win from the past six games on Monday night, while Shawn Dawson’s first meeting with his boyhood club Maccabi Rishon Lezion didn’t go as he hoped.

A 15-2 run to end the game saw Gilboa beat Maccabi Haifa 73-66 at Gan Ner to improve to a 6-4 record and climb up to fourth place, just one game behind Hapoel Jerusalem and Hapoel Holon.

Gilboa’s Zach LeDay registered his second straight double-double, finishing with 20 points and 12 rebounds. The 23-year-old forward is averaging 22.3 points and 13.3 rebounds during Gilboa’s three-game winning streak.

Gliboa lost guard J’Covan Brown to a suspected concussion, with the American being taken to hospital for further tests.

“In the first half they were far more aggressive than us and we committed too many turnovers,” said Gilboa coach Ariel Beit-Halachmi. “The guys woke up in the second half and wanted to win for J’Covan.”

Oz Blayzer and Brandon Bowman netted 15 points each for Haifa, which fell to 4-6.

Dawson had come through the Rishon youth department and spent his entire professional career at the club until he decided to join Herzliya this past summer. While his own numbers have been impressive, Herzliya as a team has looked lost this season, sitting in last place with just two wins from 10 games following a 93-80 home defeat to Rishon. The visitors opened a double-digit gap (25-15) at the end of the first quarter and never lost control.

Jason Siggers scored 24 points for Rishon (5-5), with Mark Tollefsen contributing 23 points and 12 rebounds.

Michael Efevberha had 29 points for Herzliya, which has lost two straight games since Alon Stein replaced Micky Gorka as coach.

Also Monday, Hapoel Eilat registered its first home win of the season, beating Maccabi Ashdod 86-76. Eilat, which had lost five straight home games to start the campaign, opened the second