Recap of Hapoel Tel Aviv's 98:89 loss to Prometei in Eurocup/Sport1
The two consecutive losses, which were also Hapoel Tel Aviv's first this season in the Eurocup, raised fears among the Red Club until on Wednesday evening Dani Franco's team recovered and avenged with a 99:103 victory over Badalona that eliminated them last year in the quarterfinals, raising Hapoel to a record of 5 wins against two losses.
The game opened tight with Deshaun Thomas (20 points), ex Maccabi Tel Aviv, the standout for the Spanish side, while Xavier Manford (31 points and 5 aces) led the Reds to 19:26 at the end of the first quarter. The three-point show began in the second quarter with Manford's victory as Jaylen Hord (18 points and 5 rebounds) also showed dominance in the paint and the hosts opened a double-digit gap with 44:54 left at the break.
Just when the advantage grew to 14 and it looked like Hapoel's run would only continue, Andrew Andrews (23 points) and Thomas led a 0-9 run for the visitors and the margin was down to just 3. Jacoben Brown, who returned to Franco's squad, stepped in for the final quarter (17 points and 9 aces) with 74:83 remaining, when Andres Feliz (24 points and 7 rebounds) in tremendous minutes managed to reduce it to just a point, but Hapoel managed to maintain the advantage mainly thanks to Kyle Alexander (17 points and 7 rebounds) until the end with a fifth win this season at the factory and revenge for that loss last season to Badalona.
Scorers for Hapoel Tel Aviv: Xavier Manford (6/7 of three, 5 aces) 31, Jaylen Hord (5 rebounds) 18, Jacoben Brown (9 aces) and Kyle Alexander (7 rebounds) 17 each, Brian Angola (5 rebounds) 8, Idan Zalmanson 6, Bar Timur and John Holland 3 each. Gil Benny partnered and did not score.
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Gameplay
Quarter 1
Franco moved up in the top five with Jaylen Hurd, Xavier Manford, Kyle Alexander, Jacoben Brown and Brian Angola. Deshaun Thomas, ex Maccabi Tel Aviv, opened the game with a three. The game was halted after less than 30 minutes due to a clock problem and returned 10 minutes later with the Reds' first points from Alexander. Manford and Angola put the advantage into action. The advantage shifted from side to side in the first few minutes, when a basket from outside the arc by Manford put it back on the red side. Brown added two more from the line and the advantage grew to 4, Yannick Krag answered with four straight points and Manford scored 4:17. Manford had already reached double digits and Idan Zalmanson closed the first quarter with20:19 remaining.
Quarter 26
Angola opened the second quarter with a three-pointer that set up a double-digit lead, Thomas responded with one of his own and John Holland added a basket from outside the arc with 2:22 left for the Reds. Pau Rivas continued his streak of threes and shrank to 32 in better minutes for the Spaniards. The visitor showed dominance in offensive rebounding, which didn't impress Manford with his second three-pointer and 7 points. Thomas continued to be the standout man for Badalona, as Manford did in Hapoel with another three and Hord increased the margin back with 13 and a timeout by the visitor. Thomas again cut the gap in half before another Manford three. Timur sniped from outside the arc on a tremendous three-pointer and the Reds took a9-44lead at the break.
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Quarter 3
Anders Feliz opened the second half with a basket from outside the arc, Alexander responded with points in the paint and another gallop to the rim that raised it to 10 points tonight. Manford followed with a fifth three-pointer of the game and the advantage again grew to double digits and two attacks later added the sixth with just one miss. Brown increased the lead to 14 until a Rivas triple stopped the Red Gallop. Thomas came back from a Hapoel timeout with a third consecutive three-pointer and the margin was down to just 5. Zalmanson, with a terrific assist for Hord, brought the paint back to life on the red bench and with an important basket maintained the hosts' advantage with74:83heading into a thrilling final quarter.
Quarter 4
Manford opened the fourth quarter with points from the line, Feliz responded with a three and the margin was down to 6. Thomas had already reached 20 and shrank to just 5-to-4 in bad offensive minutes for both sides with the loss of a foolish ball by Holland. Angola put the Spaniards a little further away, before Phillies in a huge final quarter managed to lead an 4-11 run, but Thomas lost a ball and Angola put the Reds on an outburst that ended with a basket and a foul by Alexander. Andrews came back from the Spanish timeout with a shot from outside the arc, Brown answered with 2 points from the penalty spot and Feliz added another three and a basket in the paint with 95:95 to go. Alexander scored 4 consecutive points and called a timeout by Badalona in bad moves by the Spanish team. Brown lost a critical shot with the margin down to just 2 with 15 seconds left, but the Reds were able to maintain the advantage until the end with a dramatic 99-103 victory.
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