Hapoel Tel Aviv defeated Valencia 96-91 over the weekend as Antonio Blakeney, Johnathan Motley, and Yam Madar starred to even up their EuroCup semifinal series at 1-1. The Reds came into Game 2 of the best-of-three series with their backs against the wall at their home away from home in Samokov, Bulgaria, due to the ongoing security situation in Israel after falling to the Spaniards 91-82 at La Fonteta earlier last week.
However, despite playing in another country, over 2,000 fans flew to support their team in their time of need, which gave Hapoel the extra boost they needed to send the series back to Valencia for a decisive Game 3 this coming Wednesday night.
Coach Dimitrios Itoudis’s team jumped out to a quick 7-0 lead thanks to Madar, while Motley’s scoring prowess gave the Reds a 54-49 advantage at halftime. Antonio Blakeney took control of the game in the third quarter and bumped the Hapoel lead up to 71-55, but Valencia cut the gap to just five points (76-71) heading into the final frame with baskets from Chris Jones, Nathan Reuvers, and Stefan Jovic.
An injured Madar and Blakeney were able to hold Matt Costello and Jean Montero at bay over the course of the fourth quarter to notch the win.
Motley scored 26 points along with 8 rebounds, Blakeney added 22 points, and Madar scored 21 while adding 9 assists in the victory. Costello scored 21 points, Reuvers put in 13 points, and Jovic chipped in with 11 points in the loss.
“Congratulations to the players,” Itoudis began. “It was an important and historic victory for us until the next one. We are in the process of building something good, and this is another brick in the foundation that we are trying to build. Congratulations also to owner Ofer Yannay and the fans. It really felt like a home game, which is important, and the players executed the game plan.”
“We came straight from Valencia to here. We worked a lot, analyzed, and tried to fix things and modify some things in our defensive plan. On offense, we saw the things that worked well. Overall, we were dominant in our game plan. We are playing against a great team that needs less than a minute to ignite something good, and they did that in the third quarter when they got us out of our composure and closed the deficit to two points. After that, we calmed down and saw the positions where we could attack better. The fans deserved to celebrate with us,” he added.
Reds captain, Bar Timor, shared his thoughts at the end of the game.
“We gave it our all and more, and it was difficult. We won, and that’s what matters. We struggled in the third quarter, even though the way it looked at the end might have seemed the opposite. We knew we had to play 40 minutes and not like in the previous game, where we mainly played a good first half. They did come back into the game, but fortunately, we made some big plays and managed to win.”
Blakeney also spoke about the victory
“We didn’t turn the ball over, and we have a talented team, so we are going to find a way to score. The coach and my teammates trust me. My work is paying off. The fans? A big thank you to our crowd – they made a big difference for us. It was a crazy atmosphere. We really appreciate it. We know it’s not easy to fly out here as it costs money and time, and we appreciate it.”
In EuroLeague play, Maccabi Tel Aviv fell to Anadolu Efes 90-88 on the road, as former yellow-and-blue swingman Elijah Bryant was unstoppable in helping the Turkish club secure a slim victory in a game played in Riga, Latvia, due to the ongoing security situation in both countries.
Oded Katash’s team came into the game shorthanded, as the club announced that center Trevion Williams had also been added to the injured list and would not take part in the contest.However, despite losing another player, Maccabi started the game well as Rokas Jokubaitis was able to penetrate and score time and time again, while Vincent Poirier and Roman Sorkin traded baskets throughout the first half, which saw Efes head into halftime with a 50-46 lead.
The yellow-and-blue looked to cut the advantage with points from Jake Cohen and Jokubaitis, but Bryant, Shane Larkin, and Dan Oturu responded, as Rodrigue Beaubois hit the decisive free throw to put the hosts ahead for good and close out the victory.
Sorkin scored 22 points, Jokubaitis added 19 points, while Levi Randolph and Cohen each scored 10 points in the loss. Bryant scored 25 points, Oturu put in 15 points, and Larkin scored 11 points in the win.Katash spoke about the narrow loss.
“I’m very proud of the players. I have to be honest – if someone had told me that we would be so minimally behind in the final seconds of the game, I would have thought they were laughing at me, but all the credit goes to the players. Roman Sorkin played almost 40 minutes. This is a respectable result for us, even though we lost.”
In Israeli league action, Hapoel Holon defeated Maccabi Ramat Gan 77-67, as Mike Davis was on fire from the outside and Justin Alston scored with ease on the inside to take the win.
The Purples came out scoring, as Netanel Artzi, Justin Alston, and Davis did the damage early on, but Drew Crawford, Roi Huber, and Kendale McCullum helped the visitors to a 43-42 lead at halftime. However, Alston started to take control of the inside, while Davis kept knocking down one three-pointer after the next from the outside to spur the hosts to a 10-point win.
Davis scored 22 points, Alston added 20 points, and Artzi put in 9 points in the win. McCullum and Crawford each scored 14 points, while Ariel put in 12 points in the loss.“We weren’t comfortable out of the gate, but we were able to play well in the second half to take the win,” Hapoel Holon coach Guy Kaplan said. “We have a number of games coming up on the road, and we have to come into every one with positive energy and our DNA.”
“You can’t win the game when you turn the ball over 17 times,” Maccabi Ramat Gan coach Shmulik Brenner said. “We all have to be better, and we need to see when some of the players will come back. But we are concerned on one hand, and we also can’t sit here and cry about it.”
Holon’s Iftach Ziv spoke about the win
“This was a very important win for us, and we prepared for this game throughout the week. There have been a lot of changes in the roster for a number of reasons, and it took time for us to gel together. I had a very good matchup with Roi Huber, and we know one another very well.”
Ariel also looked back at the game.
“It’s a disappointing loss, and we knew how important this game was. We all know that we are a bit short-handed, but we fought and battled and stayed in the game. But ultimately, we just didn’t have the energy at the end to take the win.”