Hapoel Tel Aviv came up short at Valencia on Tuesday night as the Spanish squad grabbed a 91-82 victory to take a 1-0 lead in their EuroCup best-of-three semifinal series.
The Reds came out flying over the course of the first few minutes of the clash, as Johnathan Motley and Yam Madar did as they pleased. However, Chris Jones and company were able to come back into the game and close the gap before Antonio Blakeney drained a pair from deep to send Hapoel into halftime with a 48-42 advantage.
But the third quarter was all Valencia, as Jean Montero showed why he’s been the talk of the town. The guard began to score in bunches while Matt Costello, Jaime Pradilla, and Nathan Reuvers all added points to counter Marcus Foster’s second-half efforts and secure the victory.
Montero scored 24 points, while Costello and Jones each scored 13 in the win. Foster and Madar scored 20 points apiece for Hapoel in defeat.
Game 2 will be on Friday night in Bulgaria
Next up will be Game 2 on Friday night in Samokov, Bulgaria, where over 1,500 Hapoel fans will be in attendance for a do-or-die matchup. If necessary, Game 3 will be played in Valencia next week.
“We all agree that the third quarter got us out of the game,” Hapoel Tel Aviv head coach Dimitrios Itoudis said. “We weren’t composed enough. We started with a turnover, couldn’t score, and committed six turnovers with zero assists. We also didn’t win the rebound battle. That quarter took us out of the game. We chose the wrong way to attack and weren’t focused on defense. You can’t play on the road against Valencia with the amount of possessions that we had.”
Itoudis continued: “We had a good game plan and were locked in as a composed team. We saw that in the first half by scoring almost 50 points, but that third quarter cost us a lot. Valencia is a great team, and we expected them to react in the third quarter, but we lost our offensive mindset and got nervous after some calls. We can’t lose our composure, and we have to find a better way to execute the plan. We will work on that and figure it out over the next two days.”
Tomer Ginat agreed that the third quarter was where the Reds couldn’t keep up with the hosts.
“Unfortunately, we didn’t start the third quarter well, and when Valencia is given the chance, they run and play their style of basketball, which we were unable to stop in time. We were in the game, and we know what we need to do on Friday to come back here for Game 3. We’ll make our adjustments over the next two days, and we will arrive in Samokov, where our fans will be waiting. With their support, we will send the series back to Spain.”
Foster also commented on the contest.
“We did what we needed to with our game plan for the most part. I think the third quarter hurt us a little bit, but that’s the best thing about having a series. We have another game to work on our adjustments, and I’m excited about all of the fans who will be showing up in Samokov. Let’s get a victory and make it back here for Game 3.”