In five years and eight months, Hapoel Tel Aviv did not win at the Toto Hall and yesterday (Friday) the streak was broken when the Reds beat Hapoel Holon at home with a score of 74:79 as part of the eighth round of the Winner League, thanks to a wonderful game by Jordan McRae, who led the scoring list with 21 points .
Danny Franco's men had to play long minutes without Jacob Brown who was not feeling well, and in his absence McCray and Xavier Manford excelled, bringing the Reds back into the game after an early deficit en route to an impressive away win against the champion.
It was a close game throughout and the lead changed hands 17 times.
"I am very proud of the guys for the game. It is not easy to be in a situation where we win games, make changes and hardly train and create a hierarchy. It is difficult for the players and also for us coaches, but it is such a time of the year that we have to bring the victories until the team stabilizes and we have a team Good," said Franco.
The coach continued: "I'm proud of the players who kept their judgment and composure against a quality team with a lot of offensive tools. We didn't fall for small things, we were very focused and I'm happy it ended this way. It's an important victory."
Onuaku.
Continues to get into things, photo: Oded Karni
The club identified before the game as a key key to winning to stop Eric Green, who led the list of league scorers with 24 points per game, and so they did.
The Reds placed McCray and Bar Timur on him who managed to limit his output to only 5 points on 20% from the field and 11% on threes.
"Eric is a great player, I really like him. We knew as a team that if we managed to lower his averages by at least half we had a chance to win," Franco concluded.
McRae also shared his feelings at the end: "It was a tough game, but in the end we were able to get the stops in defense to get the victory. I knew that Brown was not fully qualified and we knew that everyone who comes up has to give a little more than themselves. In every game another player can stand out, which makes us a team favor".
The club complimented Chinano Onuaku who finished the game with only 5 points, but added 7 rebounds and 5 assists, along with a block on Eric Green with a shot that could have changed the picture in the final seconds.
"Getting a tall player into the team, a dominant player, is much more difficult than getting a guard into things. If we are patient then even on a day without Jacoben we will have a chance to win."
After the game, the Tel Avivians began preparations for the next game in four days, when they will be hosted by Hamburg in Germany as part of the seventh round in the first stage of the Eurocup.
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