Hapoel Tel Aviv scored at a poor percentage, reached the fourth quarter with only two 3-pointers to its credit and seemed to be on its way to an away loss in the eyes of about 1,500 red fans who came to the kingdom, but with 2:45 minutes left in the contest, it took its first lead, kept it and won an extraordinary 93:95 The London Lions.
The Reds arrived in England in fourth place in the B table on the eve of the opening of the second round of the Eurocup and were convinced that they would manage against the English, whom they easily defeated 59:96 in the drive-in, but they would not have achieved their sixth victory in 10 games if not for a tremendous game by Jordan McRae - who recorded an extraordinary evening of 36 points (12 of 15 for two) and also gave four assists.
McRae also scored 10 consecutive points in the fourth quarter, aided by Jacob Brown, who scored 18. They were the only two of Danny Franco's team to reach double-digit points, but it was enough to record a third straight win in Europe.
Local star Sam Decker scored 29 points and gave 6 assists, and Tomislav Zovcic was also on fire with 19 points, but London, which led the entire game and fell behind for the first time only in the last two minutes, was unable to get out of the grave and missed a golden opportunity to get its fifth victory of the season.
An extraordinary game.
McRae (photo: Bernie Ardov)
the progress of the game
Quarter 1
Danny Franco went up in the top five with Xavier Manford, Chinano Onuaku, Tomer Ginat, Jordan McRae and Jacob Brown.
The start was bad for the red-whites, because even before the end of the first minute of the game, Brown committed a second foul.
Another minute passed and the locals went up 0:7, but McRae with a three-pointer was the first to score in Hapoel.
Onuaku with two rebounds in the attack made it 12:7, but from the other end a technical foul against the bench allowed the Lions to take the lead 7:16.
Four and a half minutes to the end of the quarter, Franco called a timeout trailing 22:9, after Decker increased his score to 7 points.
While Decker continued to punish in the paint, McRae also reached 9 points and the guests narrowed to 28:21 before the last two minutes of the quarter.
While London scored only 2 points until the end, the guests from Tel Aviv scored 10 and fell behind at the end of the quarter
30:27
.
Quarter 2
Bar Timur with a three-point move saved Hapoel Tel Aviv from falling behind for the first time in the game, but Tomislav Zovcic sniped two three-pointers and returned the locals to the lead 30:36 - the third player in the game to reach a double-digit number of points after Decker and McCray.
Brown scored only his team's first and second 3-pointer and shrunk to 42:41, heading into the last five minutes of the half, but also on the other end he hit a sniper from outside the arc and London went up 43:47.
Ginat with a rebound in the attack and two important points kept his team close, but an offensive foul by Timur turned into a basket on the other side by Zubcic, who had already reached 19 points, and Taylor scored a critical three-pointer before the buzzer.
At half time 48:58 to London Lions
.
Woke up in Money Time.
Brown (Photo: Danny Maron)
3rd Quarter
The quarter opened with a tremendous dunk by Tokoto after an assist from McRae and the Hapoel Tel Aviv shrunk to 58:52.
If at the start of the match it was the Red-Whites who didn't score in the first two minutes, this time they did it to the London opponent, who didn't score at all in the first three minutes and remained at 58 points until Decker scored from the penalty line to make it 54:59.
McRae's shot from half distance reached 19 points, but Best's 3-pointer brought Franco and his players to the ground again and London returned to a double-digit lead when Decker crossed the 20-point mark at the end of a 0:7 run.
Hapoel Tel Aviv had a chance to narrow the gap to five, but Tokuto lost, McCray missed and Ginat was blocked, and London with five consecutive points by Decker and Taylor regained a double-digit lead 63:75, Franco hurried to the secretariat and asked for a timeout with about a minute left at the end of the quarter.
Who but McRae managed to score and at the end of the quarter it was
65:75
for the London Lions.
Quarter 4
Taylor and Decker continued with three-pointers and the locals took a record lead of 14 points, 67:81 with 7:50 minutes remaining.
A comedy of mistakes under the basket led to a basket and a foul that was squeezed by McCray, who during the three points again brought Franco and his players out of a double-digit deficit and reduced the difference to 9.
Ginat made a big three-pointer, only Hapoel Tel Aviv's third, completing an 0:8 run, shrinking to 81:75 and reopening the match.
About 1,500 Hapoel Tel Aviv fans went out of their way when Brown was left free in the corner, he also shot from three and Hapoel Tel Aviv went back to 83:81 and we have four and a half extremely tense minutes ahead of us.
The turnaround was completed when McCray scored six consecutive points and reached 30 in total, Hapoel Tel Aviv took the first lead of the game - 83:87 with 02:45 minutes remaining.
On the other hand, Taylor responded with five consecutive points of his own and London regained the lead 89:90 with 1 minute and 20 seconds remaining.
McCray continued to be the executor and reached 36 points, but a 3-pointer by Decker got us into the final minute with the locals leading 91:93.
Onuaku struggled under the basket, took a rebound and scored a valuable basket that made it 93:93.
12.3 seconds to the end, Brown restored Hapoel Tel Aviv to the lead 93:95 and the English went to a timeout.
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basketball
Super League
Tags
Hapoel Tel Aviv basketball