Hapoel Tel Aviv eased past Dubai 85-60 in Euroleague action on Tuesday night as Antonio Blakeney along with Vasilije Micic scored in bunches in the second half to make up a five-point halftime deficit and win the game in style at home.
Dimitrios Itoudis’s team improved its record to 14-6 and is at the top of the standings, tied with Valencia after having lost to Zalgiris last week. Against Dubai, the Reds had a tough time early on as Jurica Golemac’s team used its size and physicality to take a 41-36 lead at halftime. However, Micic and Blakeney took the game over in the third quarter and outscored the visitors by 19 points on the way to the double-digit victory.
Blakeney scored 25 points, Micic added 19 points, and Tai Odiase put in 11 points for Hapoel in the win, while Filip Petrusev scored 13 points and Dwayne Bacon scored 11 points in the loss.
“This was an important win after the two poor performances,” Itoudis said. “The defensive level was where we wanted it to be. In the second half we showed that we had an arsenal on the defensive end, and keeping a talented team below 20 points says a lot as Dubai has a lot of ways to hurt you.”
“We didn’t show up in the second half both offensively and mentally,” Dubai’s Golemac said. “We lost control of the offensive movement and this is what had happened in Madrid and we have to examine that. It wasn’t like how we played in the first half and we have to analyze that.”
Micic also shared his thoughts on the win.
“We played a great game and used the energy we got from the fans. We were ready for the game and I think we deserved the victory,”
Blakeney also spoke about the importance of the bounce-back victory after the loss to Zalgiris last week, “We had to bounce back. They were scoring on us, so we changed the defense and made it happen.”
Micic scored from the outside and inside for Hapoel Tel Aviv, as Awudu Abass and Petrusev responded for Dubai.
Mfiondu Kabengele put down a monster dunk, while Elijah Bryant and Odiase responded at the other end for Tel Aviv. Bacon went from the outside and inside to give Dubai a 24-17 lead after 10 minutes of play.
Blakeney scored a pair of baskets to begin the second quarter before Justin Anderson dialed up from long distance, and Davis Bertans scored a layup. Blakeney kept up the hot shooting with a corner three, while Kenan Kamenjas and Aleksa Avramovic responded, and McKinley Wright found the basket to give Jurica Golemac’s team a five-point advantage at halftime.
Bryant, Johnathan Motley, and Micic all opened the third quarter with points for Hapoel, and while Petrusev responded, Blakeney came back from deep and Micic kept filling the basket. Odiase scored on the inside, Kabengele answered for the visitors, but a three-point play by Blakeney as the period came to an end gave Itoudis’s team a 69-54 lead after 30 minutes.
Blakeney and Jones scored to get the fourth quarter underway, Kabengele scored at the other end as Jones and Blakeney kept putting the ball into the hoop as Hapoel cruised to the win.
Maccabi Tel Aviv loses in Barcelona
Meanwhile, in Spain, Maccabi Tel Aviv came up short at Barcelona 93-83 as the hosts came out strong in the first quarter to take a double-digit lead and never looked back to chalk up the win in a game that was played behind closed doors due to threats by anti-Israel protestors.
The loss, Maccabi’s second in a row in Euroleague play, moves the yellow-and-blue’s record to 8-12, good for 14th place overall but three games out of a Play-In spot, at 10th place. Next up for Maccabi is a game at Real Madrid that will also be played without fans in the stands due to security concerns.
Tamir Blatt and Jaylen Hoard paced Maccabi Tel Aviv early on, but Miles Norris, Willy Hernangomez, and Toko Shengelia helped Barcelona to a 56-44 lead at halftime. Kevin Punter and Shengelia continued to score, while Iffe Lundberg, Marcio Santos, and Blatt tried to keep the yellow-and-blue close, cutting the gap down to just 77-72 midway through the final frame. But Shengelia and Nicolas Laprovittola found points from the inside, outside, and the free-throw line to seal the victory.
Blatt scored 17 points, Hoard added 15 points and Lundberg put in 14 points for Maccabi in the loss while Shengelia scored a game-high 22 points to lead Barca, Laprovittola scored 14 points and Punter chipped in with 12 points in the win.
Maccabi coach Oded Katash talked about why his team fell at Barcelona.
“We started the game terribly. It was not the first time it has happened to us. It’s like we don’t want to learn our lessons. We have to come out really aggressive and in order to win here against a very talented and well-coached team, you have to be focused. You have to start the game way more aggressive and focused on both sides of the court. Sometimes you lose the game in the first seven minutes and that’s what happened here.”
Barcelona coach Xavi Pascual spoke about Shengelia’s contribution.
“He’s one of the most important players we have. He’s a top-level player and we are very happy that he is back. We were missing him a lot. With him, we have another dimension to the team.”
Maccabi’s Santos talked about the loss.
“We need to start the games better, they had a big run and we couldn’t stop them in the first 6-7 minutes and then we found our rhythm, but the score was out of hand already.”
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