Galil holds on to point guard Mekel

Israeli champion Hapoel Gilboa/Galil Elyon re-signed Gal Mekel for a third season with the club. Mekel (195, 22) will try to continue the great success the team has had in his two years there. Mekel posted 7.9 points and 4 assists per game last season when Galil won the championship. Mekel, a product of the Maccabi Tel Aviv junior program and a star in the 2005 Nike International Junior Tournament, played college basketball for two years at Wichita State University before returning to Israel and signing a long-term deal with Maccabi, which he joined already at the end of 2007-08 season. Following limited playing time, he was loaned the following season to Galil where he was selected as the league's MVP for the month of April and led the team to the final four of the Israeli Basketball Super League before being stopped by Maccabi in the semifinals with a 2 point loss. Last season he returned to Maccabi, but shortly after was loaned back to Galil to once again get more playing time, only this time he upgraded his performance and was a key part in the team's run to the league title with the win over Maccabi in the final.