Hapoel Tel Aviv moved into the EuroCup semifinals with a win over Turk Telekom late Wednesday night, while Hapoel Jerusalem was ousted from the competition as it fell to Gran Canaria in their quarterfinal contest.
Hapoel Tel Aviv advanced to the EuroCup semifinals after defeating Turk Telekom 67-61 in a tightly contested affair in Samokov, Bulgaria. Marcus Foster proved to be unstoppable, helping the Reds punch their ticket to the Final Four, where they will face Valencia in a best-of-three series, with the Spanish side holding home-court advantage.
Ish Wainright, along with Johnathan Motley and Marcus Foster, carried the load early on for Hapoel, while Braian Angola and Olivier Hanlan paced Turk, as Dimitrios Itoudis’s squad took a 28-26 advantage into halftime.
Foster and Joe Ragland continued to keep the hosts in front, while Hanlan, Kyle Alexander, and Angola scored to keep the visitors close. However, Yam Madar hit his free throws down the stretch to close out the game.
Foster scored 21 points, Madar added 12, while Motley and Ragland each scored 8 points in the win. Hanlan scored 17 points, Angola put in 15, and Alexander added 10 in the loss.
Discussing the victory
Following the game, Hapoel Tel Aviv coach Dimitrios Itoudis spoke about the victory.
“Congratulations to the team. It was a final – the approach was like that – and the team deserves to be congratulated. We were pretty much in control of the game from the beginning. We managed to get to a double-digit margin, 26-15, and we kept them low-scoring for such a talented team that was well-constructed with a great coaching staff and coach. They were built to go all the way and win it all, and we managed to keep them low.”
The bench boss continued: “Congratulations also go to the 600-plus fans who bought a ticket and flew over here to support the team. We thank them, as well as the hundreds of thousands in Tel Aviv and across Israel who appreciate when the team fights and hustles. We cannot promise that we’re going to win every game, but at the very least, we’re going to hustle, and our identity is clear. Our identity is also strong because the locker room is healthy. When the locker room is healthy and we keep it that way, good things can happen.”
Tel Aviv’s Oz Blayzer also shared his perspective on the contest.
“The defense won the game. I think we came in very committed to our game plan, we stopped them, and we kept them at a low score. We did the right things; everyone sacrificed for the team, and we are very happy as we now look forward.”
Meanwhile, Hapoel Jerusalem’s continental campaign came to an end as it fell to Gran Canaria 92-89 in their EuroCup quarterfinal matchup.
In a game that was played in Belgrade due to the continuing security situation in Israel, Caleb Homesley came up huge down the stretch to close out the contest. He not only hit his only triple of the game but also found points from the free-throw line and in the paint to help his side notch the win.
Yovel Zoosman, Khadeen Carrington, and Jared Harper scored early on for Hapoel, but Joe Thomasson and Homesley kept the visitors hanging around as the Reds grabbed a 44-42 advantage at halftime.
Homesley and John Shurna found the basket early in the second half as Carrington countered for Yonatan Alon’s side, but Mike Tobey and Nicolas Brussino helped Jaka Lakovic’s team take a 10-point, 68-58 lead after 30 minutes of action. Harper, Carrington, Jeremy Morgan, and Justin Smith cut the lead down to 81-79 with just minutes remaining, but Homesley’s triple and free throws as the game wound down sealed the win for the ACB squad.
Harper scored 24 points, Carrington added 20, and Zoosman finished with 13 for Jerusalem in the loss. Homesley scored 21 points, Thomasson put in 15, and Tobey added 14 for Canaria in the win.
“Defensively, we made too many mistakes,” Alon began. “If you want to get to the higher stages, you have to play without making mistakes, and that cost us the game. In games like this, every possession is important, and you can see how well Gran CanaCanaria’s Lakovic said. “After Hapoel Jerusalem fought to come back into the game, we were very concentrated and focused enough to hit some huge three-pointers, plus we made our free throws, which decided the game. We are happy to advance to the next stage, where we will play Basaksehir in the semifinals.”
Homesley, the game’s MVP, spoke about the victory.
“I’m excited, and we really wanted this win. We put it all on the line because we knew it wasn’t going to be easy, but we were able to execute our game plan. At halftime, we came together and talked about where we needed to make adjustments, and we did just that to come away with the win.”
Jerusalem star Jared Harper also lamented the defeat.
“This was a tough loss, and we had a hard time getting back into the game. We lost on the little details – rebounds, layups. We had to be better on the little details. It was a good test for us, even though it wasn’t the result we wanted. They did a good job with the ball. There were parts of the game where we played well, but this was the worst defensive game we’ve had in a long time. It’s tough when it happens at this point, but we’ll have to fix it.”
